


Born to Different Suns

by MellowWrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Iwaizumi, Aliens, Almost a Space Opera, Childhood Friends, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Made up names, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, attempt at sci-fi, but they don't totally matter, space travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-11-11 12:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellowWrites/pseuds/MellowWrites
Summary: Oikawa Tooru had a normal life. Until aliens turn out to be real.





	1. Haezuubil Waemeset

Oikawa Tooru was six years old when he met his best friend for the first time. At the front of the classroom, he and the rest of the little class had stared at the new kid in awe, surprised someone would move to their town in the middle of the summer and start school with them in May, class having started in April. In a way, it worked out. At least Iwaizumi Hajime wouldn’t be so far behind in the lessons.

At the first break, the other students avoided Iwaizumi - like any young child, once you made friends, you didn’t bother with introducing yourself. Oikawa however didn’t have any close friends yet. While the girls liked to pull him aside and make him play with dolls, and his mother had told him to not be mean to other students, he had fallen into playing with girls and couldn’t seem to pull away to play games he really wanted to.

“So I ran over to him during the break and asked him to eat lunch with me that day!” Oikawa beams at the group of girls before him, the fond memories flooding him. “He just stared at me—”

“Like I thought you were stupid,” Iwaizumi cuts him off, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

Oikawa glances to him but ignores the quip, “He just _stared_ at me like I was the most _amazing person ever_ —”

“Bullshit,” Iwaizumi scoffs.

“—and immediately agreed to be my friend!” Oikawa finishes, the girls giggling at their slight bickering. He grins at them, reaching over to pat Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “And that was the moment our connection began.”

“No, that’s not when it happened,” Iwaizumi scoffs, rolling his eyes. Oikawa pouts and turns to look at him, drawing the attention of his fangirls to Iwaizumi.

“Then when did it happen?”

Iwaizumi hesitates, and Oikawa wonders if it’s because the girls are all staring at him. “Well, I mean… it was a month later, right?” Oikawa wonders about that.

“You mean your birthday?”

A grunt is his answer, and the girls giggle again. Iwaizumi’s cheeks tinge pink at their giggling, and Oikawa’s grin turns cheeky. “He got me a Godzilla stuffed animal—”

“He _loves_ Godzilla,” Oikawa cuts him off this time, and one of the girls actually looks excited about this.

“—So that was when I knew we would be best friends,” Iwaizumi finishes, shrugging a bit.

Oikawa hums a little though, and Iwaizumi’s glare is screaming at Oikawa to not say anything stupid or embarrassing. Jokes on Iwaizumi though, Oikawa will _always_ embarrass him if the opportunity arises. “I didn’t know he loved Godzilla then though, I just saw the stuffed animal and thought it looked like him!”

“And how’s that?” Iwaizumi’s teeth are clenched, and the girls look puzzled at the idea of someone looking like the giant lizard monster.

Oikawa cocks his head to the side as if he were thinking. “Well, you _did_ knock other kids blocks over during recess like Godzilla!”

Iwaizumi punches him, and the girls laugh at the thought. “I didn’t _mean_ to knock them over!”

“I don’t think Godzilla did either, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa placates, throwing his hands up. Iwaizumi never hit him hard enough to hurt, but if he egged him on enough it would eventually start to hurt.

Even so, Oikawa’s present to Iwaizumi had solidified him as Iwaizumi’s best friend. They were inseparable ever since, much to Iwaizumi’s parent’s delight.

When Oikawa had met Iwaizumi’s parents, he first thought they were an odd couple, but their enthusiasm at Oikawa’s friendship with their son had kept him from questioning it beyond that. Some days though, Oikawa notices Iwaizumi’s parents acting strange, but he never can place why or how.

The reality of it was that Oikawa hadn’t actually felt the real connection, or at least didn’t recognise it until the night of Iwaizumi’s seventh birthday. 

“And anyway, that’s not what I remember most about you from our childhood.”

Iwaizumi drops his fist and looks at Oikawa with curiosity. Briefly, Oikawa can tell the girls are watching him again, wondering what Oikawa will say next.

“See, Iwa-chan decided I was his best friend because of the Godzilla toy, but I didn’t feel the full connection until that night,” Oikawa continues, looking at the girls to tell them the story.

He had been the only friend welcomed to stay the night then, and the two of them sat outside to watch the stars. Oikawa was pointing out the constellations he could see and when he pointed out his own star sign, Iwaizumi had perked up. Eventually Oikawa realized Iwaizumi didn’t know anything about the stars, and so he told him all about the things his older brother had shown him.

The fact that Iwaizumi had sat and listened to Oikawa talk about space was enough to capture Oikawa’s heart and that moment of awe in Iwaizumi’s eyes as Oikawa kept talking was when their connection truly started.

“I used to love astronomy, but no one ever wanted to listen to me,” Oikawa told the girls, smiling fondly. “Until Iwa-chan that is,” he gestures to his friend, who’s face had gone blank, “and he played along!”

Before long, Iwaizumi was talking about space. But not the real space - he had made up an entire galaxy up and shared his imaginary world with Oikawa. 

“How did he play along?” One of the girls asks then, and Oikawa opens his mouth to respond, but Iwaizumi beats him to it.

“It was just some dumb stories I made up to make Oikawa laugh,” he snaps, and the girls frown in disappointment. “Little kid stuff, nothing great.”

Oikawa frowns at his friend. “Iwa-chan, your imagination was amazing!” He can hear it now, looking back on those memories.

“That way is Sakina, the largest planet of the Henshaw Galaxy,” Iwaizumi had said, pointing to the sky in a random direction. “It has similarities to Earth, but most of the Syrd race live underground these days.”

Oikawa had been biting his lip to keep from giggling at Iwaizumi’s stories. “Oh? Why do they live underground?”

“Because of—” Iwaizumi stopped and looked at Oikawa. His eyes went between Oikawa’s then, and his jaw had hung open in surprise.

“What?”

Iwaizumi had shaken his head and shrugged. “It was nothing…”

Oikawa pushed his shoulder and laughed. “You’re funny, Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi didn’t talk about the underground after that, or why this Syrd race would need to hide there. Oikawa had imagined many different things - their planet was dying and the only resources was below the surface, or an alien race had come for them and they couldn’t be out in the open after that - but nothing seemed to compare to Iwaizumi’s fantasy world.

Iwaizumi now just shakes his head. “It was dumb, and I don’t wanna remember the times I played up your alien obsession,” he turns then and leaves the hall. Oikawa watches him sadly, and the girls start to talk amongst themselves about Oikawa and what this alien obsession was.

He waves goodbye to the girls when he decides there’s nothing more to say to them, and turns to leave as well, in the opposite direction of Iwaizumi. Sometimes, he wished Iwaizumi’s imagination never died when they got older. The planet he made up was intricate and sounded wonderful.

Really, it was more like a galaxy than anything that Iwaizumi would talk about. He told Oikawa about a planet called Pohl and the stone forests inhabited by Gurone or about Garion and the eternal rain shower of acid, turning the whole planet uninhabitable; despite the delicious fruits in their soil. Oikawa loved the stories about the Beherees myth on the planet Bukuret, how they would eat everything in their path and then sleep all day, but their skin was impossible to cut open to retrieve anything you lost.

Most of all though, Oikawa loved the stories about Sakina, and the beautiful crystal trees that stood beyond what your eyes could see, and the rivers inhabited by glowing specs. How the Syrd race were proud people, intelligent and working their way into the next level of technology that not even humans could comprehend.

“What do they look like?” Oikawa had asked once while laying in the grass, the stars twinkling above them. He thought maybe if he looked hard enough, he could also see these planets Iwaizumi was talking about, but he knew they were just stories Iwaizumi was making up.

“Well,” Iwaizumi cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I guess they look… almost like humans. But their skin glows once the sun goes down, and their eyes are one solid color. Also, I guess their hair is less… like hair?”

Oikawa laughed when Iwaizumi’s face scrunched in thought, and Iwaizumi’s face burned red before he punched Oikawa and ran inside. Oikawa thought his description was interesting, but he never heard about their appearance again after that.

Through all the stories, Oikawa eventually had to initiate a game with his best friend. Iwaizumi, despite having told Oikawa the stories, wasn’t a huge fan of the games. Oikawa would talk about adventures of saving the Syrd from their underground lives and Iwaizumi would stop short.

“What’s wrong, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa would ask once he noticed his best friend wasn’t following him.

Iwaizumi at first would deter the subject, quietly follow after Oikawa and his mission to save the Syrd. But one day, he had shaken his head.

“I don’t want to risk my life for the Syrd.”

Oikawa stared down at his friend before clambering down from the tree he was half way up. “Why not? The Syrd seem so cool!”

“Well,” Iwaizumi had scuffed his foot, avoided Oikawa eyes and huffed out an annoyed sound. “I guess I just don’t want _you_ to risk your life!”

Oikawa responded by shoving at Iwaizumi’s arm and laughing a little. “It’s just a game, Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi had chuckled. “Yeah… I guess…”

“Wanna play some other alien game?”

“Yeah, we could play the explorer game where we try to get on Garion for the Zeppionate!” Iwaizumi had lit up at the prospect of moving away from the Syrd race, and the planet of Sakina.

Oikawa laughed more. “Where do you come up with this stuff?” He never got an answer, and instead they ran off, preparations for imaginary space travel to the planet of acid rain, Garion.

They stopped playing games that involved the Syrd after that, and Iwaizumi would come up with more alien stories to distract Oikawa from trying to play it again.

“Hey Oikawa-senpai, you got a second?” Watari calls from a room up head, and Oikawa stops moving. He hadn’t realized how far he’d been walking and smiles down at his underclassmen.

“What’s up, Wattachi?” Oikawa asks, stopping beside him.

Watari glances around before stepping forward. “Have you heard from Kyoutani yet?”

“No, not yet,” Oikawa hums, scratching his head. “You worried he’ll come back?”

Watari shakes his head, “more concerned about Yahaba, actually. He really doesn’t seem to want Kyoutani to agree.”

“It’s barely even May yet,” Oikawa responds, shrugging casually. “Yahaba will need to start learning to accept him in case he does agree, and if he doesn’t then Yahaba can breathe easy. Until then, I guess prepare for the worst.”

Sighing, Watari nods. “I’ll try to keep him from worrying so much.”

Oikawa pats Watari’s head, earning him an annoyed look. “Thanks for that, Wattachi! And while you’re at it, practice your receives more!”

“You really think I should be libero, Oikawa-senpai?” He asks quietly.

“Iwa-chan suggested it, actually,” Oikawa smiles, watches the surprise on Watari’s face bloom into a grin.

“Then I’ll do my best!”

Oikawa waves before continuing down the hall, focusing on where he is this time to head back to his classroom. In some ways, he might have been the cause of Iwaizumi’s imagination dying by introducing volleyball into their daily routines.

By the time they were nine, any mention of the Syrd race and the planet of Sakina had come to an end. Oikawa could remember the names well despite this, because of all the stories Iwaizumi told when they were seven, the Syrd’s stories were the most well thought out.

Oikawa had wondered about that, why Iwaizumi would not want to discuss what was clearly his favorite of the made up alien stories, but he never pushed. Instead they went on adventures to Pohl and Bukuret, and Iwaizumi’s thoughts of those would change in the details. So unlike his details of Sakina. However, even those adventures stopped once they started up volleyball, and Oikawa became focused on the sport rather than playing imaginary.

Eventually, Oikawa stopped wondering about Iwaizumi’s stories. He felt he’d outgrown the alien games, and Iwaizumi stopped telling him about his made up galaxy of Henshaw. Only when Oikawa was feeling down would Iwaizumi bring it back up, reminding Oikawa of the silly creatures of Gurone on Pohl, or about the myths of the Beherees. And if they stayed up late enough, and the stars were clear in the sky, Iwaizumi would point up to the dark abyss and say “there’s Sakina…”

It would always get Oikawa to laugh, and things would be okay again. Only a few times did it make Oikawa cry instead, and those times could be counted on Oikawa’s hand.

Once when Kageyama had struck a nerve with Oikawa back in junior high, when they lost to Ushijima one final time in junior high, as well as last year when they finally became regulars again, and once when Oikawa’s first girlfriend broke up with him.

Iwaizumi was always there for him, and Oikawa appreciated every moment they spent together. The most memorable parts of childhood were their games in the imaginary space Iwaizumi had made up to amuse Oikawa, and finding volleyball with his best friend. Iwaizumi wasn’t sure of the sport at first, but he saw how much fun Oikawa had with it and decided he needed to join him.

He returns to class and sits through two more lessons before cleaning duty starts, and goes through the rest of his daily tasks until volleyball practice.

Hanamaki meets him on his way to the gym and they chat about how much homework they need to do that day. “You okay, Oikawa?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem like you’ve got a lot on your mind,” Hanamaki raises a brow at him. “Want to talk about it?”

Oikawa’s shoulders bounce, and Hanamaki gives him a look. “Just reminiscing about my childhood, I guess.”

Hanamaki huffs a laugh, “oh really? And what was the great Oikawa Tooru up to when he was a snot nosed kid?”

“Playing aliens with Iwa-chan,” Oikawa frowns a little. “Even though he made up the scenarios, it didn’t seem like Iwa-chan wanted to play.”

Hanamaki grunts, nodding a little. “Well, he doodles some pretty weird stuff, so I bet he had some crazy ideas.”

Oikawa laughs, “you have no idea, Makki!”

“But seriously, can you decipher his doodles?” Hanamaki cringes a little. “That boy can’t draw…”

Oikawa laughs more, leading the way into the club room. Kindaichi and Kunimi greet them, along with a few other first years that were benched that year. Oikawa waves cheerfully at them, heading to his locker. Matsukawa nods as he passes him, and once he’s opened his locker, Iwaizumi is walking into the room.

He watches Iwaizumi meander to his own locker, barely acknowledging those who greet him. Oikawa waits for him to reach his side before moving to put on his practice uniform.

“You’re too quiet,” Iwaizumi mutters, keeping his eyes on the contents of his own locker.

Oikawa shrugs. “You seemed upset earlier when I mentioned the stories.”

“They were dumb,” is all he gets in response before he turns his back on Oikawa, changing out of his school uniform. Oikawa hums once and nods to himself before changing himself.

Volleyball practice goes as well as usual, Iwaizumi offering to work with Yahaba and Watari to help improve their own personal positions. Oikawa watches on beside Matsukawa and Hanamaki, and barely hears what the coach is saying to the three of them.

“Sound good, boys?” Irihata says, and the other two answer affirmative. Oikawa snaps back to attention, wondering what was said to him. “Did you hear me, Oikawa?”

Hesitating, Oikawa shrugs. “Yeah, it sounds good.” Irihata narrows his eyes before nodding and heading to drill the first years.

Matsukawa turns to Oikawa, “you didn’t hear a word he said, did you?”

“Too busy staring at his sexy ace,” Hanamaki quips, snickering.

Oikawa glares at him. “Whatever, what did he say?”

“We’re going to warm up for a three on three with Iwaizumi, Yahaba, and Watari,” Matsukawa answers, rolling his shoulder a little. “I guess he wants Watari to stay prepared for setting, but to also focus on receives.”

Nodding, Oikawa bends his knee up to his chest, stretching his muscles and getting a feel for how his knee is doing. “Okay, then yeah it sounds good to me.”

Hanamaki frowns at him. “You’re weirdly distracted today.”

Oikawa shrugs and moves to do a different stretch.

No one else makes note of Oikawa attentiveness after that, and the three on three goes smoothly. Yahaba’s sets seemed to improve, but his arms were still a little too stiff for Oikawa to feel he was ready. In comparison, Watari’s reflexes were getting better as well, though Oikawa notes that their new libero could still use some receiving drills.

In the end though, Oikawa’s side wins and Hanamaki jeers at Iwaizumi. Matsukawa, always ready to mess with someone, quips that he only won over Iwaizumi because he was more focused on helping Watari and Yahaba with tips than properly playing himself. Hanamaki turns a sharp glare on Matsukawa for that, and Oikawa laughs at his friend with Iwaizumi.

Mizoguchi has everyone jog laps to warm down after the three on three ends, and Oikawa goes at a pace slow enough to be just behind his friends. Iwaizumi and Hanamaki are exchanging jokes at the other’s expense while racing a little, and Matsukawa adds in his own jabs every few minutes behind them. Oikawa smiles at his friends, and lets himself fall back into his memories of his life with Iwaizumi.

When Oikawa’s first girlfriend broke up with him, he was far more upset than he’d ever thought he would be. She was sweet, and the first girl to ever confess to him. They were third years in junior high, and she had confessed just before his last tournament in junior high started. He was beyond happy with her, and they had a lot of fun together, but when the tournament started, he focused more on volleyball.

So a week after losing to Ushijima then, she had come to him and ended things, siting that he was far too interested in volleyball for her to ever be important enough. Oikawa was a sobbing mess when he got home, and one single text to Iwaizumi had alerted him that Oikawa couldn’t be alone then.

Iwaizumi showed up in his room within minutes of the text, and he sat back to back with Oikawa on his bed, his presence just enough comfort for Oikawa to stop sobbing.

“Thought you said you weren’t _that_ into her,” Iwaizumi had muttered once Oikawa stopped coughing.

Oikawa hiccuped a laugh. “I—I guess she started to matter?”

Iwaizumi elbowed him, but it had been soft and didn’t hurt his back. “You’re just upset that you’re not dating someone now…”

“Or maybe I just shouldn’t date at all,” Oikawa murmured, before stretching out his legs and leaning back to press against Iwaizumi’s back. His head lobbed back, rolling onto Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “First person to confess to me, and it only took her a few weeks to break it off with me…”

Iwaizumi didn’t answer right away. Oikawa had felt him turn to look out the window, and he followed his gaze a few beats later. The stars were starting to come out.

“Hey, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa started, but stopped when he felt Iwaizumi had taken in a breath.

“There’s Sakina,” was all Iwaizumi said before Oikawa started to laugh, and before long Iwaizumi was laughing too, and all heartache over his first girlfriend was forgotten.

Oikawa’s lips turn into a soft smile at the memory, and he pulls his shirt up to wipe away the sweat dripping down his chin. He glances to Iwaizumi now, and his friend is engaged in a game of ninja with Hanamaki and Matsukawa. The three of them are laughing, and Oikawa’s smile widens into a grin.

That day had probably been the first time Oikawa thought about his feelings for Iwaizumi, and all that the other man has ever done for him. By this point in his life, Oikawa is certain he can say he may very well be in love with his best friend.

He follows the three into the club room, Matsukawa leading the way as the other two appeared to have lost the game. Oikawa pats Iwaizumi and Hanamaki on the back as he passes them to his locker, and Matsukawa winks at him. “Nice win, Mattsun.”

“Thanks, captain,” Matsukawa laughs, when he face lights up as though he remembered something. “Oh yeah, I heard a new riddle today!”

Oikawa smiles at his friend, “what is it this time?”

“I am a mother and a father, but have never given birth. I’m rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?” Matsukawa recites, his grin growing at Oikawa’s confusion.

“Uh…”

“It’s a tree,” Hanamaki deadpans, slamming his locker open. “He told me this earlier.”

Matsukawa’s grin drops and he smacks Hanamaki in the shoulder. “Way to go, Hanamaki, I wanted to see if Oikawa could get it.”

Oikawa shakes his head. “You are the riddle master, Mattsun…”

Iwaizumi chuckles, opening his locker. “Tree, huh? I wasn’t too sure, actually.”

“Neither was I,” Oikawa admits, smiling at him. Iwaizumi smiles back, his annoyance towards Oikawa from earlier clearly gone.

They go to leave, and Iwaizumi makes a deal with Hanamaki to arm wrestle the next day. Oikawa and Matsukawa roll their eyes and smile at each other before the four separate into two groups, walking home for the night. Oikawa starts to whistle to himself, happy to be with Iwaizumi once again.

“How was practice?” Iwaizumi asks, glancing down.

“I feel fine,” Oikawa answers, tossing up a peace sign. Iwaizumi smiles back and nods a little. “Sorry about bringing up the alien stuff, by the way.”

Iwaizumi shrugs, “it’s just weird to admit I perpetuated the alien craze of your childhood.”

Oikawa laughs, “it’s okay Iwa-chan! I had fun as a kid, it was boring until you came into my life.”

“Then I’m not sorry about the aliens,” Iwaizumi’s smile falls a little.

“Aliens are pretty cool, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa bumps into him, jostling their steps a little. “You helped me see that - I used to think they were just weird.”

Iwaizumi huffs a laugh, but once he kicks a rock, Oikawa knows he doesn’t want to keep talking about it anymore. “How much homework do you have?”

Oikawa hums one long note, looking to the darkening sky. “I have English and math, you?”

“Same, only I also need to finish something for classical lit,” Iwaizumi stretches his arms up, yawning a bit.

“You’re always so behind on lit, what’s that about?”

“I’ve never been a really fast reader, Oikawa, you know that.”

Oikawa nods, and they fall into silence. Iwaizumi yawns again, and Oikawa wonders if he’s been sleeping much.

“Do you want to stay the night again?”

Iwaizumi glances to him, and shrugs. “Sure, might help me out.”

Oikawa fights the smile that threatens to take over his face. Maybe he’d finally say something about these feelings he’s been contemplating.

Iwaizumi’s home comes into view, and Oikawa gestures towards it. “Do you want to grab something from home?”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi clicks his tongue, “should tell my mom I’m staying over at your place.”

Oikawa gasps, “I should ask my mom! I doubt she’d care, but still!”

He pulls out his phone as they walk up to the front door, but he drops it when he crashes into Iwaizumi’s back. Oikawa looks around, wonders why Iwaizumi stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Iwaizumi doesn’t answer, he just stares at his house. Oikawa watches him for a moment, the way Iwaizumi is looking at his own home making Oikawa nervous.

“Iwa-chan—”

“ _Get down_!” Iwaizumi screams then, turning around to shove himself into Oikawa and bodyslam him into the small patch of grass. Oikawa loses his breath, and he feels a small pain shoot into his back.

“Wha—”

An explosion comes from the house, and Oikawa stares in horror over Iwaizumi’s shoulder until the heat becomes too much. Iwaizumi’s body protects him from debris, but Oikawa feels a few things fall beside his head.

When the sound of things falling seems to subside, Oikawa tries to open his eyes. Smoke envelopes the two of them, and he can’t see the house. He can’t see anything other than Iwaizumi, who’s pulling himself up to hover over Oikawa.

“I—Iwa-chan…?”

“Stay quiet, and don’t move,” Iwaizumi whispers, looking down at Oikawa. Oikawa nods, feeling the most frightened he’d ever been - which isn’t saying much, since the only time he was ever truly scared was when he heard a pop in his knee in his first year of high school.

Iwaizumi pulls himself up to stand over Oikawa, and he looks around in the smoke. Oikawa briefly wonders what he’s doing when lasers are suddenly trained on him from all angles.

Something weird is yelled then, and in the distance Oikawa can hear sirens. He can’t hear the words, or at least can’t comprehend them, but Iwaizumi seems to understand.

“He’s not who you’re looking for!” He yells out, and Oikawa stares up at him. “He’s just some Human, nothing to worry about!”

Some more jumbled words of confusion is Iwaizumi’s response.

Iwaizumi hesitates, his eyes glance down to Oikawa for a split second and Oikawa can almost see his throat bob as he swallows. “I am Haezuubil Waemeset,” another gulp, “of the planet Sakina!”

Oikawa’s ears are ringing when he hears the first shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haezuubil Waemeset and the other names and planet names are made from various generators and then I edited to be more alien like.


	2. Ship Fit For Two

Things move far too quickly for Oikawa to keep up properly. Iwaizumi had shifted when the shots rang out, and dropped to lay on top of Oikawa. In a different situation, Oikawa would have been internally freaking out in a good way, but in this moment he’s freaking out in a bad way.

The smoke rolls out from the house, covering the street, and the immediate area around them has cleared enough for Oikawa to see. The gunshots - at least, Oikawa _thinks_ those are guns - subside and he looks around from beneath Iwaizumi.

Creatures that look like trolls - the only way he can think to describe them - are standing around them, and Oikawa takes a moment to figure out how many there are. He counts five, but something tells him there are more out there. They stand equal distances from one another, clearly blocking any chance for escape. There’s something glowing on their backs, and the armor they’re clad in reminds Oikawa of the sci-fi shows he’d stay up late to watch with Iwaizumi back in junior high.

Iwaizumi growls above him - _literally growls_ , like some kind of animal (and it’s not hot, shut up body!) - baring his teeth to the creatures. Their hulking forms actually stumble back in surprise, and Oikawa watches on in awe as they look between one another, gibberish sounding from them, but Oikawa doesn’t see where their mouths could possibly be.

“Stay back!” Iwaizumi yells, his voice holding some kind of snarl. The reaction he gets is almost comical to Oikawa, these huge, intimidating creatures actually appear to be scared of him now. “He’s not the Hero!”

Oikawa can hear the sirens approaching, and he wonders what the emergency response team will think of these… well, Oikawa supposed they’re aliens.

“You need to get out of here!” Iwaizumi shouts, glancing in the direction of the sirens. One of the creatures steps forward, the object in his hands - probably a gun, but it looks nothing like a gun and much more like a barrel - dropping to it’s side. This one says something to Iwaizumi, and Iwaizumi scowls at him, a small growl making the creature flinch. “These Humans don’t know about your kind! They’ll take one look at you and shoot you with something worse than your pathetic lasers!”

These troll-like aliens seem to consider his words before they crouch down - with how short their legs appear, Oikawa is surprised they can even do that - before springing up, shooting off into the air. A light shines down on them, and Oikawa shields his eyes from how bright it is. Iwaizumi crowds him again, and Oikawa can feel something pulling him up into Iwaizumi’s braced body.

“Grab the ground,” Iwaizumi grunts, so Oikawa scrambles to dig his hand into the grass and dirt as best as he can. The pull grows stronger, and Oikawa realizes it’s a tractor beam, probably from some ship taking the trolls away before they fall to the ground again.

When it grows dark again, Oikawa feels his entire body collapse into the grass, and he gasps for air. The smoke is really thinning out now, but there is more beginning to pour out of the sizable hole in Iwaizumi’s home. Oikawa stares at it, his hands in the dirt shaking away any soil before grabbing onto Iwaizumi’s shirt. “I - Iwa-chan…?”

Iwaizumi stares down at him, eyes wide in worry. “You okay? Nothing hit you, right?”

“Wh…” Oikawa’s breathing is speeding up, and he’s pretty sure he’s panicking. “Wha—”

“Those were Creath,” Iwaizumi grunts, moving to stand, reaching out to pull Oikawa to his feet. “They’re space mercenaries, and from what I just heard, they’re looking for the prophesized Hero.”

Oikawa gets to his feet, but his knees feel weak. Actually, after being thrown to the ground, he’s pretty sure his bad knee is feeling some pain. He grabs Iwaizumi’s arm, gasping for breath.

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows are knitting together in worry, and Oikawa groans. “You okay? I mean, you’re obviously not, but—”

“What the hell!?” Oikawa screams, and Iwaizumi flinches before he becomes alert, looking around the area. Oikawa’s about to start ranting when Iwaizumi grabs his arm and starts pulling him somewhere. “Where are you—”

“We gotta move,” Iwaizumi says, pulling harder before he begins to run. Oikawa does his best to keep up, willing his legs to work. “We can talk once we’re safe.”

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa calls, looking over his shoulder at the wreckage of his friend’s home, “that’s a crime scene! We can’t leave!”

Iwaizumi doesn’t answer, he just keeps running and Oikawa can’t tell where they’re headed. He keeps up well enough, and he looks around himself at their neighbors. A lot of them are coming outside their homes, staring in horror down the road to the Iwaizumi household. A few of them glance at Oikawa and Iwaizumi, but so many of them were focused on the explosion that no one stopped them.

Oikawa nearly trips when Iwaizumi turns off the road into a clearing that leads to a small forest just outside their neighborhood, but he steadies himself to keep pace with him. Iwaizumi weaves through the trees smoothly, and Oikawa wonders how he can see.

Then it really hits him - Iwaizumi had called himself some weird nonsense that Oikawa wasn’t sure he could repeat if he wanted to, and said he was from the planet of Sakina. Oikawa’s eyes drill holes into the back of Iwaizumi’s head as they run, and he feels his heart rate pick up, knowing it’s not because of the running.

Iwaizumi slows to a stop, catching Oikawa when he nearly collapses. He clutches onto Iwaizumi, gasping for air and shaking terribly. “I only stopped because you were falling behind,” Iwaizumi says, moving down to help place Oikawa on the forest floor. “Take your time, I’m sure we’re safe now.”

“Safe?!” Oikawa snaps, his breathing shallow. “I don’t even know what just happened! You - you ran from a crime scene! Your house just exploded and - _God_ , Iwa-chan your parents! They might be dead!” Oikawa coughs, gasping for air again. “A-and those _things_ , what were those _things_?!”

“Oikawa, calm down,” Iwaizumi murmurs, holding Oikawa’s shoulders. “I’ll tell you what I can, but you need to calm down.”

Oikawa sucks in a deep breath, focusing on the dark soil in the forest. The trees are shaking above him from the wind, and the sound of leaves rustling help ground him to the forest. But the sounds of the sirens still arriving on scene is still there, only distant to him again. He breathes slowly, digging his fingers into the dirt once more and closes his eyes.

Iwaizumi shifts next to him, and his hold on Oikawa’s shoulder grows soft. “You better?”

Nodding, Oikawa takes in a large breath and looks up to Iwaizumi. “I think… I think I’m okay now…” Iwaizumi nods back, standing to survey the forest. “Iwa-chan… did you say you were from Sakina?”

Iwaizumi doesn’t look back at him. “I can’t explain here, Oikawa. We have to move again.”

“Why?” Oikawa scrambles to stand, reaching out to pull Iwaizumi towards him. “What’s not safe out there? What is going on?”

He shrugs Oikawa’s hand from his shoulder and Iwaizumi keeps his back to him. “Are you good to run again?”

Oikawa shakes his head, looking back the way they came. “Iwa-chan, I’m not leaving until you tell me what we’re running from.”

Iwaizumi’s shoulders hunch, and Oikawa waits for him to answer. Finally, he sighs, just as the sirens cut out. Oikawa wonders if the emergency vehicles have all arrived, and whether or not Iwaizumi’s parents were okay.

“I scared the Creath away, but it’s not going to last,” Iwaizumi grumbles, shifting to look over his shoulder at Oikawa. “Teeth baring and growling only keeps them at bay for so long. And yeah, their lasers aren’t strong, but it’s still fatal if you get hit directly by one.”

Oikawa’s jaw hangs open, and he feels the fear pool into his stomach. “Why did they destroy your house?”

Iwaizumi scratches at his head, turning fully towards Oikawa. “They were after you, Oikawa.”

“Why?!” Oikawa can’t take all this beating around the bush, staring at Iwaizumi in desperation. “What is going on?!”

“Because they think you’re the prophesized Hero,” Iwaizumi avoids his gaze, shaking his head. “We can’t stay here, we need to move.”

Oikawa can’t believe this. “I’m sorry, but what makes them think that I’m some hero? I may have played space aliens as a kid, but I’m just a human!”

Iwaizumi remains silent, eyes set to the forest around them. Oikawa feels his heart beat one too many times for him to be patient.

“Iwa-chan, say something!”

“I can’t, not until you’re safe,” Iwaizumi snaps, finally looking at Oikawa again. “Just - follow me, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Oikawa clenches his jaw. “How? Because you’re apparently an alien too?”

“Oikawa, don’t do this right now—”

“I’m sorry if I’m offending you, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa snaps, the pressure building up behind his eyes. His nose is burning and the fear in his stomach is rising to bile. “I’m sorry if you think I’ll just follow after you when I have no idea what is happening!”

“I just _told you_ ,” Iwaizumi’s voice is firm, but it’s clear he’s getting agitated. “Creath are here and they’re hired to kill the Hero.”

Oikawa suddenly feels heavy. “Why attack your family then?”

“My parents were never here,” Iwaizumi mutters, his own jaw clenching to keep from yelling at Oikawa. “They were trying to attack me because I’m here to protect you.”

Oikawa’s body goes cold. “What…?”

“Now follow me, and I’ll keep you safe,” Iwaizumi glares at him, any other emotion he may be feeling hidden well behind his mask of anger.

He hesitates, looking back towards the neighborhood, though he can’t see anything beyond the trees. Oikawa bites his lip, swallowing the bile that is finally burning at his throat. He turns back to Iwaizumi, who’s waiting silently.

“Okay, where are we going?”

“They’re listening, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi answers, shaking his head. “I can’t tell you.”

He holds his hand out, and Oikawa just looks at it. Iwaizumi moves his hand a little, like as if motion would make Oikawa want to take it more.

Oikawa closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he reaches out and takes Iwaizumi’s hand. He slowly opens them, and really looks at his best friend.

“I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Iwaizumi whispers, his face softening to something much more calming. Oikawa squeezes his hand, and Iwaizumi squeezes back.

The tree behind Iwaizumi suddenly splinters, the shot of a laser creating a hole in the side of it. Iwaizumi jumps forward, grabbing hold of Oikawa and tucking him to his chest, making Oikawa bend awkwardly. Iwaizumi looks around, alert and appearing calm, but Oikawa can hear his heart racing.

If Iwaizumi is an alien, does he have a heart like Oikawa’s? Is it even in the same place? It sounds like there is one, but Oikawa can’t be sure.

The jumbled mess of the language Oikawa doesn’t understand comes from the other side of the tree, and Iwaizumi spins around, keeping Oikawa behind him. Oikawa peeks over his shoulder, looking at the Creath and the glowing form of the pack on his back. Or it’s a growth, Oikawa can’t tell.

“I’m telling you, he’s not the Hero!” Iwaizumi snarls, but the Creath moves closer. Iwaizumi starts to step back, pushing Oikawa to do the same. “You touch him and I’ll kill you!” An odd noise comes from the Creath, sounding like a pig snorting, and Oikawa assumes the Creath is laughing. It goes on to say something, but again Oikawa can’t understand it. “Just because I was raised on Earth doesn’t mean I don’t know how to kill like any Syrd soldier,” Iwaizumi’s voice is still harsh, but Oikawa can hear a confidence behind it.

It’s frightening, hearing Iwaizumi talk about killing anything. It’s also extremely attractive, and Oikawa figures he’ll question why that is later.

The Creath seems to be hesitating, no longer moving towards them. Oikawa almost wishes he could so he see the odd waddle it was doing with it’s short legs, but he knows now is not the time to be laughing about something that’s come to kill him.

If Iwaizumi doesn’t get them out of there, they’d both be dead by morning.

He gulps, tugging onto Iwaizumi’s shirt and staying behind him. The Creath stands there, breathing heavy, and Oikawa hears something odd in the way it huffs. Is it… having a hard time breathing here?

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa whispers, and Iwaizumi stiffens, but he doesn’t look away from the Creath. “I don’t think it can breathe here…”

Iwaizumi muscles twitch, and Oikawa wonders if he just noticed too. The Creath seems to have noticed Oikawa saying something, and by the sound of it’s voice, it doesn’t understand Oikawa either. Iwaizumi clicks his tongue, standing a little taller. “He said you look scared,” Iwaizumi says, and the Creath squeals for a second, the tone sounding angry. Oikawa snaps his gaze to Iwaizumi, wondering why he’s goading the Creath. “He knows these things - he strikes fear in all his opponents.” The Creath grumbles something, and from the way he’s leaning forward, Oikawa thinks he might be getting ready to charge.

“Iwa-chan, why are you—”

“ _Move_!” Iwaizumi shouts, pushing at Oikawa to move him behind the tree just as the Creath charges forward. Oikawa stumbles, but he grabs hold of the tree and clambers to stand straight to watch what Iwaizumi will do.

Iwaizumi braces himself, jumping and grabbing the Creath’s shoulders when it’s close enough to vault over it, in the process pulling on something that looks to be going towards its head. Oikawa stares in awe at Iwaizumi, and realizes that as short as the Creath’s legs were, the rest of it’s body is twice the size of Iwaizumi himself.

“Hold your breath, Oikawa!” Iwaizumi shouts, landing to the ground just behind the Creath, and Oikawa moves to cover his mouth.

The Creath stumbles forward, the momentum of Iwaizumi pushing off it’s shoulders throwing it off balance, and Oikawa watches the cord he’d pulled off wave around like crazy, as though air is blowing out of it. His eyes widen when he realizes that something is coming out of it, and it looks like a blue gas that is glowing.

Eventually, the Creath falls forward, and the pack on it’s back dims until there is nothing left. Oikawa waits for it to move, but it doesn’t and Iwaizumi grabs his arm and pulls him away. Once he hears Iwaizumi gasp for air, he does the same.

“What just happened?” He coughs, his lungs burning from holding in his breath for so long.

Iwaizumi pants next to him, looking strained. “You were right, the Creath can’t breathe oxygen. That pack held what they do breathe, and it’s toxic for us. Those trees might be dying now from the toxic gas mixing in the air…”

Oikawa takes in a few more gulps of air, looking behind himself. “Will it spread?”

“Probably not,” Iwaizumi stands straight, smiling at Oikawa. “It looked like it suffocated in the air after a few minutes.”

Oikawa nods, but he feels uncertain. “The body, someone will find it.”

“And the Humans will realize there actually are aliens out there,” Iwaizumi shrugs. “With the way their technology is going, it will be years before they can even locate the Henshaw Galaxy.”

Oikawa stares at him, and he knows his face must be twisting into an expression of horror. “Iwa-chan, you just killed that thing,” he shivers, “and you - you don’t seem bothered by it!”

Iwaizumi shrugs. “It was us or him, Oikawa.” Oikawa isn’t sure he likes that mentality, but Iwaizumi reaches out to hold his face. “Oikawa, I’m not letting them hurt you. And if that means I have to kill them, I will.”

“I…”

“Please, wait until we’re safe,” Iwaizumi says, taking Oikawa’s hand as well. “I promise, I’ll explain once I know we’re safe.”

Oikawa nods, forcing himself to feel numb to the situation. “Okay, let’s go.”

Iwaizumi turns and starts to run, his hand falling from Oikawa’s. Oikawa’s hand remains out, reaching for Iwaizumi before he lets it fall and he sighs to himself. Quickly, he follows after Iwaizumi and keeps pace behind him.

How had it come to be like this? It’s hard to believe that Iwaizumi is actually an alien, he looks so human. And to top it off, he’d been telling Oikawa all about his race when they were children, and Oikawa had wanted to save them. The Syrd race were undergound on Sakina if Oikawa remembers the stories right, but then, why was Iwaizumi here?

They leave the forest, and Oikawa isn’t sure where they are now. There’s nothing but a field before him, and the forest surrounds it by a good distance. Oikawa takes it in, wonders how they could possibly be safe out in the open like this.

Iwaizumi is still running to the center though, so Oikawa follows him. He feels nervous following him to the middle of the field, and he starts to slow down. Iwaizumi slows as well, but he’s reached the center by now and is looking for something.

“Iwa-chan—”

He cuts him off with a hand, Iwaizumi turning to put a finger to his lips. He gestures for Oikawa to come closer, but Oikawa feels the back of his neck tingle. Iwaizumi drops his hand, giving Oikawa an exasperated look.

“I think—”

Iwaizumi’s eyes widen and he runs towards Oikawa, and he gets the feeling that Iwaizumi is about to tackle him to the ground again, so he drops into the grass. Iwaizumi dives to join him when a gunshot fires again.

“How are those lasers?!” Oikawa snaps at him, a few blades of grass obstructing his view of Iwaizumi.

He rolls his eyes, “I mean, they’re kind of like bullets, but they’re not!”

“What does that mean?!” Oikawa shouts over the gunfire.

Iwaizumi just shrugs and Oikawa groans. “Look, things translate funny into different languages, I can’t help it!”

“How are you doing that, anyway?!” Oikawa asks, but Iwaizumi just gives him an annoyed look. “Right right, not until we’re safe!”

The gunfire stops and Iwaizumi shifts to stand again. “Are you finished?!” He shouts to the Creath, and Oikawa feels tempted to look, but he remains on the ground. A Creath answers him, and Iwaizumi groans. “Yeah, I killed him! What of it?!”

Oikawa swallows the bile that threatens to spill, hating the way Iwaizumi acts so casually about killing anything.

“Oh, you want revenge for your boss?!” Iwaizumi taunts, throwing his arms open. “Then come and get me!”

He can actually hear them all running out to try to murder Iwaizumi, and Oikawa starts to panic. Iwaizumi’s arms drop and he shakes his head, stepping forward to put his foot on top of something by Oikawa’s face. He presses down, and Oikawa shifts to see what it is.

A button sits amongst the grass, and he wonders what it does. He doesn’t wonder for long, the ground begins to shake under him and Oikawa tries to scramble away. Iwaizumi moves over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him to stand. Oikawa looks at him, then glances around to see the Creath running at them.

He counts at least fifteen of them, and he starts to panic more, shaking in fear at the sight. Iwaizumi however doesn’t even blink, just pulls Oikawa to stand over the button, and the ground continues to shake.

Just as the Creath are about to close in on them, metal plates shoot out from the ground, encasing Oikawa and Iwaizumi in protective walls. Oikawa’s jaw drops, and he hears the Creath crash into the plates.

“What…?”

“Wait for it,” Iwaizumi mumbles, smirking at Oikawa.

The sheets of metal continue to rise up, and Oikawa watches in awe. They grow to be taller than the forest around them, and Oikawa has to strain his neck just to look up at the top. Once the metal frames stop, an odd sound comes from them before they begin to expand, shrinking back down and forming a shape. Oikawa feels the ground give under him, and he looks to see what is happening. Where the button was, the dirt has gone away to reveal another piece of metal, and it feels as if Oikawa is standing in an elevator, telling him that the metal under him is rising.

Panels begins to open in the sides of the metal as they take on a more proper shape, and two seats begin to spring to life out of one of the panels. What look like computer screens are blinking to life and Oikawa does an entire spin around to take it all in.

“It’s…” Oikawa’s fear has been replaced with an anxious energy that screams at him to feel excited, but he isn’t sure he’s feeling it yet. “It’s a spaceship…”

“I bet you thought we were gonna die when I lead you to a clearing,” Iwaizumi huffs a laugh, shaking his head before moving to one of the seats that has fully formed. Oikawa stares at him. “Take a seat, and we’ll prepare for take off.”

Oikawa points to the wall, can hear the Creath banging around outside. “What about—”

“Their lasers won’t penetrate the hull of the ship,” Iwaizumi shrugs, “we’re plenty safe now.”

He feels the floor has stopped, and the walls seem finished forming. The ship is just large enough that the two of them can fit comfortably but not have to be in each other’s general space. Oikawa slowly walks over, and he slumps down into the other chair.

Iwaizumi raises his brows and nods at him. “You comfortable?”

“I guess…” He watches him as Iwaizumi nods, turning away to start poking at some buttons on the wall and change things on the screen.

“The chair will change just a little to brace your body for the take off,” Iwaizumi says, and his voice sounds far too casual for Oikawa right now. If Iwaizumi has been on Earth this whole time - at least twelve years - then how can he handle space flight or anything of the sort like as if he does it all the time? “And obviously the g-force will be pretty heavy, so try to relax.”

Oikawa stares at him. “Iwa-chan, why are you acting like you’ve done this a million times?”

Iwaizumi pauses in his button pressing, and Oikawa’s chair begins to shift under him. He sees that Iwaizumi’s is as well, but Iwaizumi isn’t moving to lean back into it yet. “I’m actually really scared about messing this up since the last time I did this was twelve years ago, and every time since was only a simulator.”

“Oh…”

“So give me a minute to get us out of Earth’s orbit and I’ll start explaining things,” Iwaizumi gulps, turning to look at Oikawa with worried eyes.

“Okay,” Oikawa nods, moving to settle into his chair. “I trust you - and I believe in you.”

Iwaizumi nods back and returns to pressing buttons. When the chair suddenly produces a seat belt that holds Oikawa in place, he fully registers what Iwaizumi had said.

He did this when he was six? Are they actually the same age? And wait, they’re leaving Earth? Oikawa agreed to go with Iwaizumi to safety, but did that really mean they needed to leave Earth?

He didn’t even get to call his mom, and he searches himself for his phone. Oikawa pauses when he realizes his phone was still in front of the wreckage of Iwaizumi’s house.

“Iwa-chan,” he starts to say, voice weak. Oikawa feels far too nervous to be there now, and he really just wants to go home.

Iwaizumi doesn’t seem to hear him, shifting back into his seat and pressing one last button. The ship rumbles and Oikawa sees black around the edges of his vision, his body shaking uncontrollably.

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi says, and Oikawa looks at him. Iwaizumi’s watching him, his eyes sad and apologetic. “I’m sorry I have to take you away, but the Creath are going to kill you if we don’t get out of here. They’ll go after your family if we stay here.”

Oikawa thinks about his family, worries that the Creath already tried to go after them. He gulps, tries to relax when he feels the shift in motion. “I understand.”

Iwaizumi shakes his head, “if we could stay here we would, but the Creath were hired to find you. I’m sorry.”

Oikawa doesn’t get a chance to answer, and he keeps his eyes on Iwaizumi when the pressure builds. Iwaizumi doesn’t look away either, and Oikawa figures that if he had to leave Earth and his family, at least he was going with his best friend.

The ship rocks as it rises and passes through different levels of the atmosphere, and Oikawa takes a deep breath to try to calm down.

Something beeps above them when the pressure ends, and Iwaizumi sits up slowly. He presses a few things on the panel, and suddenly the wall has changed to be like a window. Oikawa stares out into space, the moon and the earth hanging beneath them. He turns to look at Iwaizumi, and finds that he’s already staring at Oikawa, like as if he was watching for Oikawa’s reaction.

“Welcome to space, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi whispers, the ship silent around them.

Oikawa keeps his gaze on Iwaizumi, the light reflecting off of Earth shining an interesting light on him. “Are we safe yet?”

He doesn’t get an answer from Iwaizumi, instead a giant spaceship suddenly looms before them, blocking the light coming from Earth. Oikawa jumps in his seat, and his attention is captured by the other ship.

Shapes appear at the top of their screen, and Iwaizumi growls. He reaches forward, hitting something to make the shapes disappear. Oikawa assumes they were words in Iwaizumi’s home language, but he doesn’t get a chance to ask when a Creath appears on the screen in place of the shapes.

Oikawa winces at the sight, finally getting a look at the Creath without the helmet. “Gross…”

The face of a Creath appeared to be boiled, but rather than looking red and pus filled, they just looked green and possibly hard. The eyes - at least he thinks those are eyes - remind Oikawa of flies and he gets the feeling the hole in what he thinks is it’s neck is it’s mouth. The possible mouth has strings of flesh covering it, and Oikawa just cannot look away.

Surrounding the Creath, the blue glowing gas hovers about it’s disgusting head. Oikawa thinks his upper lip might be twitching with the way his face is screwed up in revulsion, but he can’t bring himself to care right now.

It says something, and Oikawa really cannot understand a single word of the garbled mess. Iwaizumi growls in response, and Oikawa glances to him. Finally having taken his eyes from the creature to look at something much more appeal, Oikawa focuses on looking at Iwaizumi.

“He’s mine, I won, back off,” Iwaizumi snarls, and the Creath in Oikawa’s peripheral vision seems to cower. It says something, and Iwaizumi snorts in distaste. “I don’t care, whoever hired you can go die!”

Iwaizumi punches something and Oikawa isn’t sure what that panel does, but he feels the spaceship rock backwards and from the view of the window, he sees the giant ship move away. However, from their own movement, he knows they’re the ones moving, and Oikawa wonders where they could possibly go in their little ship.

A light appears around the window’s edge, and Oikawa looks at it. “A worm hole?”

“Yep, we’re getting out of here,” Iwaizumi answers, and he pushes something to turn off the video call with the Creath. Before long, the window shows nothing but lights and colors until suddenly all Oikawa can see is space once more.

But there is no Earth, and he can’t recognise any of the planets within view. “Where are we?”

“Not sure,” Iwaizumi admits, falling back into his seat. “But they don’t know either. We’re finally safe…”

Oikawa turns to watch Iwaizumi, wondering if he’s right.


	3. Ask Your Question

Oikawa stares out the window, feeling like his body is a weight and his emotions are missing, watching the planets and the stars he’s never seen before. One of them appears like it might explode with the cracks in its surface, what looks like lava pooling around in the cracks and bubbling ominously. Another one in the distance looks like it might only be made of ice, and Oikawa cocks his head to the side to try to guess how far away it is from this solar system’s center star to be that cold.

“Maybe I should try to figure out where we are,” Iwaizumi mumbles, grunting as he sits up to mess with the panel.

Oikawa looks at him, the nervous energy in his stomach returning in full force as they settle in for staying wherever it is the wormhole took them. He tries to keep his breathing even, watching Iwaizumi click on things and focus on some weird program that he guesses is a star map that can tell them which solar system this is.

“Iwa-chan,” he starts, stopping Iwaizumi’s movements. Iwaizumi glances over to him, dropping his hands and fully turning when he sees the panicked expression on Oikawa’s face. “Can we ever go back to Earth?”

Iwaizumi hesitates. “I don’t know…”

Oikawa sucks in a deep, shaking breath. “Oh…” He tries not to let it hurt, but the pressure behind his eyes has returned suddenly and his nostrals are blazing hot from the tears he’s holding back. He may never see his mother again, or his father, or sister and brother and sister-in-law, or his nephew. He may not ever be able to see Hanamaki or Matsukawa, or play with the team again, or finish high school. He will never know if he would have been able to beat Ushiwaka this year, or if he could prove his worth against Kageyama in an official game. All those plans he’d been making may never come true now that he’s not on Earth, and his stomach is hurting from holding back his tears.

Iwaizumi is kneeling before him. “Oikawa, you can cry,” he whispers, taking Oikawa’s hands into his own. He squeezes his hands, and Oikawa feels the pressure finally spill over. “I promise, I will keep you safe, and I’ll do everything I can to be able to take you back to Earth,” Iwaizumi continues, and Oikawa shakes with the force of his tears.

Oikawa hunches forward, the pain in his stomach getting to him. Iwaizumi holds onto his hands, and Oikawa rocks forward when he finally lets it all go. Tears are pooling down his cheeks, heavy with pain and fear, as though he’s accepting the loss of Earth and his home and he fully believes they’re never going back.

“I got you, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi murmurs into Oikawa’s ear, and Oikawa sobs when Iwaizumi lets go to pull Oikawa into a hug. “I won’t let anything happen to you, and I will try to get you home again.”

He doesn’t think about how Iwaizumi doesn’t say “us” or “we”, that he’s focusing only on Oikawa returning to Earth. Oikawa can only sob, and he reaches out to hold onto Iwaizumi for dear life. He slips from his chair with how much he leans forward, Iwaizumi falling back with him, and Oikawa crumbles against him on the floor of the ship.

“I don’t know what we can do,” Iwaizumi continues on, one of his hands beginning to rub Oikawa’s back. “But I will pursue anything that helps.”

Oikawa doesn’t respond, he just continues to cry against Iwaizumi. He wants to stop crying, but he figures now is the most opportune time to get it all out. He coughs when he sobs particularly hard, and Iwaizumi continues to rub at his back. Iwaizumi even begins to gently massage Oikawa’s bad knee, as though he knew it might be hurting. His fingers help soothe any pain Oikawa has been suppressing, and his hand on Oikawa’s back helps in calming him from his sobbing.

Iwaizumi shifts a little, resting back into the wall and bringing Oikawa against him. Oikawa curls in on himself against his chest, and Iwaizumi rests his head on Oikawa’s. He’s nearly enveloped in Iwaizumi’s entire body and Oikawa can feel his sobs subside.

The comfort Iwaizumi gives him is one of the many reasons Oikawa knows he definitely feels something like love for his best friend, and his attractiveness is enough to make Oikawa consider that it is probably romantic. But he can’t quite think about his feelings in this moment, having left behind everything he ever knew and fearing for his life making it difficult to think about anything else.

But Iwaizumi is with him, and while he has a lot to explain and has made Oikawa question everything between them, there is no denying that Oikawa feels calmer when Iwaizumi holds him.

Oikawa’s not sure when he stops sobbing completely, or when he feels his face dry from the tears. Iwaizumi doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t move beyond rubbing at his back and knee. Oikawa’s body truly feels drained now, and he wonders if it’s even worth it to try to go back when his whole understanding of the universe has flipped in on itself since the explosion.

“Do you want to talk now?” Iwaizumi whispers, and Oikawa lightly jumps at the feel of his hair shifting from Iwaizumi’s breath. “I think you need to hear it now…”

Oikawa sucks in as much air as he can to help ground him again, and he moves away to peek at Iwaizumi properly. He doesn’t pull much more beyond that, and he rests his hand on Iwaizumi’s stomach, scrunching his shirt into his fist. He nods at Iwaizumi, sniffling when he feels some snot might try to roll out of his nose.

Iwaizumi doesn’t shift forward, reclining against the wall. He moves his hand to rest against Oikawa’s lower back, and his massage on Oikawa’s knee stops. Iwaizumi sighs, closing his eyes and thunking his head against the wall. “I might need to pull some images up, unless you don’t want visuals.”

Oikawa shrugs. “Why don’t I ask questions and you just answer me?”

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows raise and he nods a little. “And I show you if you need visuals?” Oikawa nods again so Iwaizumi shifts to sit back up. He moves his legs, the left bending in to press around and against Oikawa’s leg while his right stretches out under Oikawa’s bent legs. “Okay, what’s your first question?”

He pauses to think about it. Oikawa supposes he can start with the what might be the easiest. “How can you understand all those aliens but still be speaking Japanese?”

It seems like a good place to start because Iwaizumi appears relieved. He takes his hand from Oikawa’s knee, reaching up to pull something from under his shirt. A necklace is produced, one that Oikawa has seen around his neck since forever - he doesn’t remember a moment in which Iwaizumi didn’t have it on, to a point that no one acknowledges it much anymore. It’s a simple thick thread with a square charm, not much of a design to it beyond a spiral in the center that spreads to the outside, though it’s hard to see the line because the shades of blue are close in color.

“This is a translation device,” Iwaizumi says, and Oikawa stares at it. “The wearer can hear everything around them in their own language, and everything they say will project out in the language of whoever is listening.” He removes his other hand from Oikawa’s back (and it chills his spine to have the warmth removed) in order to reach up and pull the necklace off. Oikawa watches, not sure what Iwaizumi is doing when he drops it. Iwaizumi gives him a look, silently telling Oikawa to pay attention, and Oikawa narrows his eyes in confusion. Iwaizumi opens his mouth, and the words that come out sound nothing like anything Oikawa has ever heard.

It’s a smooth language, one that sends a tingling sensation throughout his body just listening to Iwaizumi talk. There doesn’t seem to be a start or end to the words, spoken so fluently that Oikawa wonders if sentences are more like an entire word than individual sounds to mean something else. Something else happens when Iwaizumi briefly pauses between his sentences, like as if Iwaizumi is clicking in his throat to mark the end of a phrase. Oikawa’s pretty sure his eyes are wide and his jaw is hanging open like a fish, but he can’t believe what he’s hearing from Iwaizumi’s mouth.

He feels a small comfort to know his voice is the same sound otherwise, regardless of whether or not the words being spoken make sense to him. When Iwaizumi doesn’t make another sound, Oikawa shakes his head rapidly, as if he had fallen into a trance. “What?”

Iwaizumi shifts forward, replacing the necklace around Oikawa’s neck. “I was just saying volleyball phrases and stuff,” Iwaizumi mumbles, and it’s alarming how easily his language shifted. “I don’t know what you said, to be honest. Japanese… it’s always been hard. And trying to speak English with this necklace was hard too, since it will always sound like I’m speaking your native language.”

Oikawa gawks at him, trying to close his mouth, but he can’t seem to do so because he is so surprised. “I… you sounded beautiful.”

Iwaizumi’s face burns at that, and he grows tense when shifting to sit back against the wall. “Thanks…”

“What language is that?” Oikawa asks, feeling a little excited.

“Wym, but the dialect is more for the Underground,” Iwaizumi bites his lip, his shoulders relaxing a little. “It’s… it’s a difficult language to learn. The Overworld’s dialect is weird though.”

Oikawa tilts his head to the side, considering it. “I’m not sure what the difference is, but maybe I’d notice if I heard it.”

Iwaizumi nods towards the necklace around Oikawa’s neck. “If you ever come across it, you wouldn’t hear it. It’ll sound like everyone who talks to you are speaking Japanese from now on.”

“So am I actually hearing you right?” Oikawa wonders, eyebrows scrunching together. “Is it Wym? Or even Sakina? Do official words translate as they normally are?”

Iwaizumi shrugs, “I’m not sure. You could take it off and I can say the words for you.” Oikawa nods, letting go of Iwiazmi’s shirt to do so. Iwaizumi clears his throat and begins to speak again. “Wym, Sakina, Creath, Syrd, Pohl, Beherees…” He shrugs, gestures to Oikawa.

“It sounds the same, but…” Oikawa waves his hand, to say so-so, “there’s something there I can’t describe…”

There are sounds at the end of the familiar words, or even before them. Something changing the way the words sound without translation. He shrugs, throws the necklace back around his neck.

“What were you saying?” Iwaizumi asks, his face curious.

“I think there are prefixes and suffixes I don’t hear,” Oikawa says, humming in thought. “I don’t know though…”

Iwaizumi reaches up to the necklace, “let me hear you say them,” and removes it from Oikawa’s neck. Oikawa recites the same words Iwaizumi does, and he watches Iwaizumi’s face shift in confusion. He puts the necklace back onto Oikawa and shakes his head. “Yeah, you’re missing parts of the words.”

Oikawa shrugs. “That’s what I hear when I understand you…”

Iwaizumi nods, relaxing against the wall again. “Okay, next question.”

He thinks about it, feeling more at ease with the simple and quick answer Iwaizumi had given him for the first question. “Why do you look human if you said you’re from Sakina? Are you actually a human?”

A sigh is all he gets at first. Oikawa licks his lips, wondering if Iwaizumi won’t answer this. “No, I’m… I’m not a Human, Oikawa…”

He almost sounds ashamed, and Oikawa can’t help but want to know why. “Then why do you look human? What are you?”

“I…” Iwaizumi scratches at his head, his hands no longer coming to rest against Oikawa. Oikawa shifts a little, trying to remain comfortable sitting between Iwaizumi’s legs, but the floor is hard and made of metal. “I’m a Syrd, from the planet Sakina. And I only look Human because…” He doesn’t peer at Oikawa, eyes to the floor. “I have a device that changes my appearance to look like the race of whatever planet I’m on.”

Oikawa glances to his legs, bent over Iwaizumi’s. He wonders what makes any of that shameful, or why Iwaizumi doesn’t seem comfortable with the topic. “So you’ll change appearances?”

“No,” Iwaizumi gives out a long sigh, his head banging back into the wall when he shifts to look up at the ceiling. “I have it set to Human right now.”

“So what do you really look like?” Oikawa asks, glancing over to him. Iwaizumi doesn’t meet his eyes and he shakes his head. Oikawa bites his lip. “Iwa-chan, what do you—”

“I don’t want to show you,” Iwaizumi snaps, and he pulls his legs out from around Oikawa, pushing against the wall to stand. “It’s not what’s important right now. Ask your next question.” He steps over to the chair he’d been in, swinging it around to mess with the panel again.

Oikawa pulls himself up as well, plonking down into his own seat. He feels better now that he’s sitting in the squishy chair, but he misses the warmth of Iwaizumi’s body around him. He pouts a little, crossing his arms in a huff. “What are you so ashamed of? Your real appearance must be similar to this one - I mean, you weren’t very good at describing stuff when we were kids, but I remember you said the Syrd have similarities to Humans.”

Iwaizumi’s shoulders hunch and he pauses in his movements before quickly continuing. “I just don’t think that’s something to worry about right now.”

Oikawa glares at Iwaizumi, thinking to himself that Iwaizumi is being a little selfish in keeping this secret from Oikawa. As his best friend, Oikawa feels he should know what Iwaizumi’s true appearance looks like.

“Just ask your next question,” Iwaizumi grumbles, falling back into his chair. He doesn’t turn away from the panel, and Oikawa hates that he’s avoiding his eyes.

“Why did you come to Earth?” Oikawa asks, biting his inner cheek a little. “Who were those people if they weren’t your parents?”

Iwaizumi groans, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes. “Oikawa—”

“No, Iwa-chan, explain this to me,” Oikawa snaps, and Iwaizumi drops his hands to look at him again.

“I… I was sent to Earth to find the prophesized Hero,” Iwaizumi says, his voice soft. “My parents… they never came to Earth, but I had a device with me that allows for anyone back on Sakina to project themselves to Earth as a Human.” He sighs, scratching at his jaw. “Only the projections are more… solid? I guess that’s a good way to put it…”

Oikawa feels like he’s burning a hole into Iwaizumi’s head with the staring he’s doing. “So… I did meet your real parents?”

“My dad’s kind of the leader of the Underground, so he was too busy to always be around,” Iwaizumi mumbles, and Oikawa recalls that the excuse he’d always use was that his dad was on a business trip. “But my mom also had to take care of my sister, so she wasn’t around much either… if it ever felt like we were alone in my house, it’s because we really were.”

Oikawa’s jaw hangs open a little. “Is your sister actually sick?” He only met Kaida - who’s real name was probably some gibberish that Oikawa can’t pronounce - a few times, at Iwaizumi’s birthdays usually. He’d been told she was really sick and stayed in the hospital a lot.

“No, she wasn’t actually sick,” Iwaizumi breathes out slowly, rolling his head against the chair to stare back at the ceiling again. “My sister is very healthy, but there was no point in my family being on Earth for much more than to pass me off as a real Human for the mission.”

He jolts upright at this, making Iwaizumi jump a little in surprise. “Wait, you said you came for the prophesized hero… who is it?”

Iwaizumi’s eyes are wide, as though he was hoping Oikawa would have skipped over that. “Uh…”

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa begins to shake, “what’s this prophecy you’ve been talking about?” Iwaizumi turns back to the panel and the information he has open on it. Oikawa scowls at him, “Iwaizumi, answer me!”

“You!” Iwaizumi sits up, turning back to Oikawa. “You’re the Hero I was looking for, okay?!” Oikawa thinks he might have stopped breathing. “‘A hero will cross from his own lagoon of milky white stars,’ it’s talking about you!”

Oikawa shakes his head. “What? How does that… what?”

“The prophecy - it says - _fuck_ ,” Iwaizumi smacks his hands onto his head, scratching and pulling at his hair. “I know it, but I can’t tell you it!”

“Why not?” Oikawa feels completely confused. “You just… you were just reciting it, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one who’s supposed to tell it to you,” Iwaizumi drops his hands, resting his arms on his knees while hunching forward. “The one who told the prophecy has to tell it to you, since it involves you.”

Oikawa considers this, isn’t sure he likes what he’s hearing. “But… how do you know for sure it’s me and not some other Human?” Oikawa bites his lip, thinking about the little snippet of the prophecy that Iwaizumi had said. “You said the Hero comes from the milky white stars? That’s the Milky Way Galaxy, right?”

Iwaizumi shrugs, “that’s what we thought, too.”

“So how do you know it’s specifically me?”

“There’s more to it, a part that talks about you,” Iwaizumi peeks up at Oikawa through his lashes. “Stuff about where you’re born and what timeframe your birthday is, also a suggestion on how you look,” Iwaizumi’s eyes drop then, “basically, I know it’s you. It’s always been you.”

Oikawa feels a huge weight settle into his stomach. When they first met, Iwaizumi had stared at him with wide eyes. Did he know then who Oikawa was - in accordance to the prophecy that is. “That’s why you were okay with being my friend?”

Iwaizumi jumps up to a sitting position. “What?”

“You were on Earth to find the Hero and you found me,” Oikawa murmurs, “and that’s why you let me be your friend…”

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi mumbles before surging forward, grabbing his hands. “Oikawa, no! I - I knew who you were when I saw you, but I didn’t - I wasn’t just - I care about you!”

Oikawa glances to their entwined hands, but he feels numb to the touch. “You let me get attached to you so that I’d trust you when you were ready to take me off of Earth…”

“No!” Iwaizumi snaps, shaking his head. “Oikawa, I was set in my mission to find the Hero, but when I got to know you… I just - I stopped caring about the prophecy!”

Oikawa turns his eyes up to look at Iwaizumi’s. “What?”

“Oikawa, I didn’t—I _don’t_ want you to save the Syrd race,” Iwaizumi’s voice sounds choked off. “I needed to protect you, I was told to protect you from outside threats, but… listening to you talk about saving them when you only thought they were imaginary… I couldn’t accept it…”

He watches Iwaizumi fall to his knees, and he feels Iwaizumi press his hands to his forehead. Oikawa waits, feeling the shaking Iwaizumi’s body has begun to do, and he wonders if he’s about to cry. “Iwa-chan…”

“I didn’t stop talking about the Syrd because I hated them,” Iwaizumi cries, “I stopped talking about them so you wouldn’t want to save them anymore!”

Iwaizumi is sobbing now, and Oikawa isn’t sure what to do. Iwaizumi hardly ever cries, and Oikawa thinks back to the last time Iwaizumi had cried. He thinks it might be when they had lost in junior high to Ushiwaka for the last time (at least for junior high), when Oikawa had won the best setter award. Or maybe it was the year before, when Oikawa accidentally stepped on a lizard Iwaizumi was trying to befriend.

Maybe Iwaizumi cries more than Oikawa realizes…

He reaches forward, ready to hug Iwaizumi to him, thinking about why the idea of Oikawa attempting to save anyone would make him this upset. Oikawa gets out of his chair, kneeling before Iwaizumi and hugging him close when an idea comes to him about what’s really bothering Iwaizumi.

The Syrd are his people - those of the Underground have been waiting for Oikawa to come and save them for twelve years, and Iwaizumi refuses to take him. Oikawa gulps, squeezing Iwaizumi closer. Iwaizumi’s not only scared of Oikawa risking his life - he’s ashamed that he’s left his people to suffer; not only his people, but his family as well. They may have been on Earth as projections, talking to and checking up on Iwaizumi, but the reality is that Iwaizumi hasn’t seen his family for just over a decade.

And he’s chosen to not return in order to save Oikawa from risking his life.

Oikawa feels a pain in his chest. He’d been crying earlier about not seeing his family ever again. Iwaizumi hasn’t truly seen his family in twelve years and had made the choice years ago to never return to them. It doesn’t sit well with Oikawa, so he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa whispers, and Iwiazumi shivers in his hold. “We have to go to Sakina - if I’m the Hero—”

“N-n- _no_ ,” Iwaizumi moans, hiccuping on his sobs.

“If I’m the Hero, I have to save them,” Oikawa presses his head against Iwaizumi’s, rubbing his hand along Iwaizumi’s back. “You have to take us to Sakina so I can save them.”

Iwaizumi’s head is shaking back and forth, but Oikawa’s head is keeping him from making a full headshake. “I can’t l-let you…”

“You have to,” Oikawa hushes him, moving one hand up to pat at his hair. “You were sent to find me, and you’ve already taken me away from Earth. If one of us could see their family again, I’d rather it be you.”

Iwaizumi’s still shaking his head, but Oikawa can feel his body sag into Oikawa’s. “I’ll protect you,” Iwaizumi whispers, and Oikawa nods. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“And I’ll save your people,” Oikawa whispers back, earning a sob from Iwaizumi. “I will do whatever I can.”

“Don’t,” Iwaizumi hisses, his hands grabbing onto Oikawa’s back and pressing him closer to Iwaizumi. “Please don’t risk your life, I can’t lose you.”

Oikawa remains silent, looking ahead to the panel Iwaizumi had been messing with. He doesn’t understand the words, but he thinks Iwaizumi has found where they are. “I won’t risk my life,” Oikawa lies, voice soft. “I’ll save the Syrd race - for real this time.”

He’s not sure what he’s saving them from, but he knows if Iwaizumi agrees to let him do this, he’ll find out once they get to Sakina. Iwaizumi’s body shudders, and Oikawa closes his eyes again to bury his face in Iwaizumi’s neck. He waits for him to stop crying, to accept what Oikawa is saying.

Finally, Iwaizumi starts to pull away, and Oikawa moves to do the same, but Iwaizumi has pulled him forward again, pressing his forehead to Oikawa’s. His eyes are still wet, glistening from his tears, and Oikawa gazes into them. “Please, don’t leave me.”

“Never,” Oikawa agrees, squeezing at Iwaizumi’s shoulders. Iwaizumi’s eyes flutter closed, and Oikawa fights the urge to move forward and kiss him.

“Thank you,” Iwaizumi breathes, and Oikawa feels his chest ache for having to lie about risking his life. Despite knowing now that Iwaizumi would rather keep Oikawa safe than save his own people, Oikawa knows he could never leave an entire race to die if there’s something he could do about it.

They use one another to pull themselves up, and Oikawa doesn’t let go of Iwaizumi’s arms. Iwaizumi keeps his hands at Oikawa’s waist, looking between Oikawa’s eyes as though he’s searching for something.

“It really does look like Henshaw is in your eyes,” Iwaizumi mumbles, and Oikawa feels his face heat.

“What?” He sounds breathless too, and he wonders if Iwaizumi can tell what Oikawa feels for him.

Iwaizumi shakes his head, dropping his hold. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Oikawa removes his hands from Iwaizumi’s shoulders and watches him walk back to his seat, moving to drop back down into his own. “Alright, so if you’re sure you can do this—”

“Apparently I’m meant to do this,” Oikawa answers, trying to sound smug to lighten the mood.

It seems to work, because Iwaizumi shoots him an exasperated but amused expression. “Then, let’s get to the Henshaw Galaxy.”

Oikawa watches him press some buttons again, and the images on the screen change in response to him. The seat belt returns and Oikawa settles back into the chair. Iwaizumi eventually moves to do the same when he seems to have finished typing, and the wormhole opens up in front of them this time.

Oikawa gapes at the sight, and Iwaizumi grins at him. “Wormholes are pretty cool… this ship only has a few left though, so I try to make them count.”

He nods to Iwaizumi’s words, feeling the ship rock forward to begin moving towards the wormhole. “This will take us directly to Henshaw?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Iwaizumi’s smile falters, but Oikawa appreciates that he tries to look excited. “Sorry it’s not all long distance, takes several years kind of space travel.”

“No, this is good,” Oikawa responds, waving his hand to disregard the apology. “I’d rather get there now than have to wait.”

Iwaizumi laughs, and the ship enters the wormhole. Oikawa shifts forward to peek around the window’s edge at the lights and colors, wondering what it’s all made of. Soon, they exit the wormhole and the vastness of space is all that’s left.

Oikawa looks around at the new solar system, trying to guess which one might be Sakina. “Is it… that one?” He points at a random planet, green like Earth with hardly any blue to suggest water.

Iwaizumi shakes his head, a frown on his face. “No, it’s that one,” he gets up from his seat, moving to point directly against the panel at a grey planet. “There’s Sakina…”

He gawks at it, and Oikawa feels the seat belt fall away as he stands to get a closer look. There’s some purple and pink-ish spots on the planet, but for the most part, it looks…

“Sad…”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi whispers, taking his hand away. “Not many live with the Overworld.”

Oikawa glances to him, and a million questions zoom through his head about what this Overworld and Underground business is all about.


	4. The Underground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drew a picture for the last chapter over on tumblr --> [link](http://mellowdoodles.tumblr.com/post/161916816528/an-attempt-at-a-scene-from-chapter-three-of-my)

Sakina rotates on it’s axis in the distance, unsuspecting of their ship and the intention to land there. Oikawa watches it slowly turn, feels as though he stares at it for a very long time while waiting for Iwaizumi to tell him to sit back down. He can’t imagine the differences between Sakina and Earth, wonders what exactly will make them different. Will he be able to breathe when they land? Is there food he can eat, or water to keep hydrated? Is it safe enough to sleep now that he can feel the fatigue after running for so long?

Is it safe at all?

Oikawa turns to Iwaizumi, who’s slumped in his seat and staring to a different panel, nothing reading out to him. “Iwa-chan, are you okay?”

“I haven’t been here in twelve years…” Iwaizumi murmurs, and for a second Oikawa wonders if he’s actually answering Oikawa or if he’s in a trance. Oikawa thinks about that, figures that by leaving your home for most of your life, anyone would develop an existential crises of having returned suddenly - especially when you never planned to come back.

“Is it… safe?” Oikawa asks, looking back out to the planet in question.

“My dad keeps me updated on the paths to take,” Iwaizumi continues, a bit louder this time, and Oikawa hears him shift to touch his computer panel again. “But… he can only know so much from being underground.”

Oikawa takes a breath in, feeling some panic start to settle into his exhausted body. “I meant can I actually breathe here? What about food or water - do Syrd have a need for these things?”

Iwaizumi doesn’t answer right away and Oikawa glances back at him. He’s staring up at Oikawa as though he can’t believe what he heard. He laughs suddenly, and Oikawa immediately feels stupid. “It may not look like Earth, but we have water and food too - and of course there’s oxygen. Most planets with developed life forms have oxygen as the air supply.”

Oikawa’s face heats, “you don’t have to laugh at me…” He pouts and turns back to the galaxy before him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh,” Iwaizumi clears his throat, and Oikawa hears him type some information into the panel. “I just thought it would have been obvious. I couldn’t have been on Earth without air, though I have to admit Earth has a variety of foods compared to Sakina.”

“Does it… taste the same?”

“We’ll worry about that when we land,” Iwaizumi’s voice goes quiet, and Oikawa takes a deep breath. “Take a seat, I’m going to take us in.”

Oikawa avoids Iwaizumi’s eyes and returns to his chair, immediately enveloped in the seat belt. He watches the window and waits for movement to occur.

The ship lurches forward and Oikawa grabs hold of his seat, gulping down the nerves he feels as Sakina grows larger.

As they get closer, Oikawa can make out discernable shapes and focuses on the rock formations. It becomes clear the closer they get that the pink and purple colors were meant to be like plant life on Earth, and there were areas between certain shapes that looked like it could be water. More colors become easier to see and Oikawa begins to see the similarities to his home.

Yet, Sakina was so distinctly alien with the colors and lack of noticeable grass that Oikawa knew he wouldn’t forget where he was.

Oikawa feels the pull on the ship as Iwaizumi moves into the atmosphere and Oikawa takes another shaky breath to ground himself. He trusts Iwaizumi to navigate them to safety, but he fears if he looks over at his best friend, he’d see the same anxious expression he’s sure he’s wearing, and that isn’t something he wants to see from his pilot.

An alarm blares above them, and Oikawa jumps in his seat. “What is that?”

“Shit,” Iwaizumi hisses, and Oikawa’s body goes numb with fear. “Fuck, they changed routes,” and while that doesn’t sound like Iwaizumi messed up the landing, Oikawa still doesn’t like it.

“Who?” He feels the panic grow larger and he finally looks at Iwaizumi. The anxiety he’d thought he’d see isn’t there, instead Iwaizumi looks angry and is scrambling to push bubbles of words away from his view, trying to focus on landing. Oikawa glances to the window and sees they still have a ways to go before the actually reach the ground, but he’s not sure if they’ll make it.

Iwaizumi shifts his hands, and Oikawa watches the window from Iwaizumi’s end to see what he’s doing. While it still doesn’t make sense, it’s clear to Oikawa that by seeing Iwaizumi’s hands he can get an idea of what the ship is doing when it veers off. Iwaizumi is steering them away from the ground and remaining in the air, shifting their ship to coast above it all while trying to maintain a good dropping angle for the landing.

“Oikawa, I need you to hold on,” Iwaizumi’s grounds out behind clenched teeth, and Oikawa chooses to remain quiet, for fear of distracting him. “Looks like she’s hired Creath to shoot down anyone who enters Sakina’s atmosphere.”

“What?!” Oikawa shrieks, but he doesn’t get an answer when the ship rocks. He can tell Iwaizumi didn’t do that, but that doesn’t make him feel better.

“We’re being shot at!” Iwaizumi yells, briefly glancing to Oikawa before continuing to steer the ship. “Don’t panic, I won’t let them hit us again!”

Oikawa wants to answer back, but the ship suddenly turns and he grabs hold of his chair to keep from being bodily thrown off to another direction. He doesn’t want to watch through the window, but it’s so large he’s not sure he can look away. Iwaizumi’s flown them off their straight course into a direct ninety degree angle, and Oikawa can feel the ship drop a little by his stomach trying to expel itself through his mouth. He can barely hear it, but it’s there - the sound of gunfire just outside their ship.

Were they followed all the way here or are Creath all over the known universe? Oikawa can’t ask yet, fearing he might actually throw up from their erratic movements. However, a glance to Iwaizumi informs Oikawa that he’s the one throwing them around, which helps him relax knowing they’re not getting hit again.

Iwaizumi steers them again into a sharp turn and again the descend, and Oikawa sees the lasers through the window shoot past them. In the distance, he can see small ships coming after them and he thinks Iwaizumi might have just steered them towards the Creath. But Iwaizumi doesn’t seem deterred so Oikawa squeezes his eyes shut from the panic.

The sound of the lasers firing is louder now that they’re moving towards it and Oikawa is compelled to open his eyes, but he wishes he hadn’t when the Creath are flying towards them directly without sign of changing their speed and Iwaizumi’s doing the same. Oikawa can feel himself about to scream when Iwaizumi grunts, and the ship suddenly goes into a nosedive.

There’s water below them - Oikawa’s pretty sure that’s water at least, it’s similar to an ocean on Earth - and he hears the sound of an explosion behind them. A panel pops up on Oikawa’s side of the window, and he gapes at it when he realizes Iwaizumi had thrown two ships into one another by flying like he did. The explosion is frightening, pieces of their ships scattering out and dropping from midair, smoke and flames expanding out from the center and Oikawa is reminded of the explosion at Iwaizumi’s house.

He doesn’t watch the screen for long, the feeling of his insides being compressed into the back of his body reminding him that Iwaizumi is flying them directly towards the water. “Iw-Iwa-chan!”

“ _Hang on_!” Iwaizumi shouts back and Oikawa sees an alert from the explosion beeping, a third ship suddenly appearing around it and following them down. He isn’t sure he can breathe if he tried, and he watches the ship zoom towards them at the same rate as their ship is about to meet the surface of the water. He’s not sure a space ship can go underwater and Oikawa’s heart decides to lodge itself into his throat.

Iwaizumi grunts again and the ship levels itself, the water splitting from their speed around them while Iwaizumi glides them over it and in the alert window, Oikawa sees the Creath ship that had followed them down has crashed into the water behind them.

Oikawa feels his insides jiggle back into place for the most part and the exhaustion from the sudden adrenaline is enough to make him slump into the chair feeling boneless. “What the fuck…?” He can’t breathe right, and his voice comes out sounding far too winded.

“We’re fine now,” Iwaizumi says, and the alerts all disappear from the window. “I think we lost them all.”

He rolls his head along the headrest to face Iwaizumi, and Oikawa tries to take in air, but coughs instead when he chokes on it. “What the fuck?” His voice is strained and Iwaizumi glances to him again. There’s worry in his eyes and Oikawa shakes his head. “I don’t feel so good…”

Iwaizumi’s eyes search the panels before him, still focusing on navigating the ship. “Hang on, I’ll find something for you to throw up into.”

“How did you do that?” Oikawa mumbles, the smooth flight over the water helping to soothe his body back to feeling relaxed. “I feel like my insides were going to spill over but you’re so… composed…”

He shrugs, checking on Oikawa quickly before focusing on what’s before them. “Our anatomy has it’s similarities, but I don’t have as many organs are you I guess… or least not as many squishy ones.”

Oikawa stares at him, the word anatomy reminding him that Iwaizumi is an alien. And on the topic of anatomy, does Iwaizumi possess the same… equipment as him in order for them to—

‘So not important right now, brain,’ Oikawa inwardly scolds himself, shaking his head. Feeling as though he can breathe correctly now, he takes in as much air as he can and moves to sit straighter in his seat. 

Still, once the thought is there it’s hard for Oikawa to let go, and he gazes at Iwaizumi out of the corner of his eyes, continuing to ponder the workings of a Syrd body. And whether they were compatible enough to a Human’s for Oikawa to even continue feeding into his hope of recreating his fantasies with Iwaizumi.

His face burns and he focuses on the window. He doesn’t even know what Iwaizumi really looks like and he’s still thinking about kissing him senseless (among other things). But he’s certain if it’s anything similar to what Iwaizumi’s cloaked Human face looks like, Oikawa wouldn’t mind either way.

Iwaizumi flies the ship over land, and Oikawa gapes at the foliage on Sakina. The plants are huge, and Oikawa wonders if there is anything like it on Earth. He’s sure there’s something similar, but the colors of the plants are nothing like what’s he’s seen.

There’s hues of purple and red in just about everything, with tints of green here and there. He speculates about the science behind the plant life, but in the moment of flying through the foliage, Oikawa can’t quite remember how biology in plants work. So he simply watches on, trying to figure out what the leaves equivalents are to the plants back on Earth.

“Iwa-chan,” he mumbles, and Iwaizumi grunts in answer. “I don’t know for sure, but didn’t you say there are crystal trees on Sakina?”

Iwaizumi hesitates before he sighs. “Yeah…”

“Where are they?”

“... the crystal trees were my people’s source of life,” Iwaizumi whispers, and Oikawa looks over to him. “They were everywhere, but since everyone has moved underground…”

Oikawa waits, fearing for an answer that won’t sit well with him.

The cover of the leaves suddenly leaves the window and Oikawa looks back out to Sakina, gasping.

They’ve reached a valley of rock formations, with some patches of what Oikawa guesses is grass yet it’s more yellow than green. But what has him gasping is the sight of stumps sticking out of the ground - stumps of what appears to be crystals.

“What happened…?”

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “With most everyone underground, there’s no one to light the crystals.”

“What do you mean?”

“Syrd absorb sunlight, and share that light with the crystal trees. For breathing, we get our oxygen from other plants, just like on Earth, but,” Iwaizumi scowls, “we have an additional requirement with Sakina’s nature in order to live and be healthy.”

Oikawa gazes over the small crystals, wishes he’d seen this forest when the crystals were high into the sky.

“The crystal trees shared the sun’s light with us, and we thrived off the energy exchanged. With everyone underground, no one is giving light back to the crystals,” Iwaizumi looks down, and Oikawa watches him now. “So the trees have fallen to stumps, and raiders have come to take the broken crystals. Only a few trees are left now.”

Oikawa’s chest aches at the explanation. “Sakina is dying…”

“And so are the Syrd,” Iwaizumi mumbles.

“But what about you?” Oikawa turns his chair to Iwaizumi, “you’ve been on Earth, you haven’t been able to exchange light with the crystals for twelve years!”

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “Earth’s sun gave me enough energy to survive. It’s rays were strong enough to keep my energy up. Sakina’s sun is weaker, and a lot older than Earth’s, so the power of the crystals were how Syrd got the energy they couldn’t get before.”

Oikawa stares at him. “What do I do…? I can’t make the crystal trees grow.”

“No, that’s not why you’re here.” Iwaizumi looks up at him, and Oikawa sees the pain in his face. “You’re here to help bring the Syrd back to the surface.”

“How?”

“Oikawa, I can’t be the one to tell you,” Iwaizumi shakes his head, and Oikawa feels his impatience grow. “Please, let the prophecy explain to you what happened.”

He huffs, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. “Then take me to whoever will explain to me!”

“Oikawa—” Iwaizumi stops, his expression hurt. “Okay,” he mumbles, returning to navigation.

Oikawa tries not to let the water eyes of his best friend get to him - Iwaizumi’s been so secretive that Oikawa can’t take it anymore, he wants to know what he can do to save the Syrd. And if saving them will also save Sakina, then Oikawa will follow through with everything.

He doesn’t focus on the scenery this time, though Sakina is beautiful despite losing the crystal trees, and he instead thinks about what he could possibly need to do. Iwaizumi had said something about a ‘she’ hiring the Creath to shoot anyone down.

Did someone take over Sakina?

Iwaizumi flies them to a mountain under the protection of the foliage and Oikawa feels the ship rock when it lands. Iwaizumi moves to stand, gesturing for Oikawa to do the same. He follows after, wondering where they were.

He’s pulled close to Iwaizumi in the center of the ship, and Oikawa blushes at their proximity, briefly considers making a suggestion to him when the floor moves under them, a panel shifting to drop them down. He watches his feet, sees the perimeter of the opening is too small for both of them to stand side by and side and feels disappointment that Iwaizumi hadn’t pulled him close just because.

When the panel stops and they’re able to step off, Iwaizumi pulls away and moves towards the mountain. Oikawa fights the urge to sigh sadly, following after and glancing up to their ship.

It’s a very small ship, with no discernable front or backside. The window he’d been watching through isn’t visible outside, and the shape is very oval. Oikawa wonders at how the ship had flown at all, tries to remember all that he ever learned about rocket science (which isn’t much since he was a kid when he tried to figure it out).

“Oikawa, over here,” Iwaizumi calls to him and Oikawa lightly jumps, twisting around to see Iwaizumi standing beside the rock formation. He hurries over, and shoots Iwaizumi a look. He understands Oikawa’s silent question and nods towards the mountain. “Just watch.”

He reaches up and touches a hole formed into the face of the rock, and Oikawa waits. Suddenly, a crimson light shoots from Iwaizumi’s hand and moves out into four separate lines, moving about like as if they’re tracing a pattern Oikawa can’t see. The lights swirl around, moving quickly and quietly and Oikawa gapes at the image.

There’s nothing identifiable to Oikawa about the image itself, but the crimson light is enough to keep him entranced. Iwaizumi removes his hand when the lights stop, and suddenly the rock is crumbling before them.

“Whoa,” Oikawa whispers, and Iwaizumi smiles over at him. Oikawa rolls his eyes at the look and mumbles to himself, “show off,” which earns him a chuckle. With the rock cleared, Iwaizumi moves forward and Oikawa goes after him.

“The rocks will replace themselves,” Iwaizumi says then, and Oikawa glances back to see if they would change now. “There are some old crystals in them to react to me like that. It was a protection spell made to keep the Overworld from finding us.”

Oikawa remains quiet, knows that if he asks anything Iwaizumi probably wouldn’t answer.

The cave they move through is silent, rocks skidding under Oikawa’s feet every now and then, and the light grows darker and darker. Oikawa feels himself move closer to Iwaizumi, unsure of where he’s stepping now. “Iwa-chan, how can you see?”

Iwaizumi makes a confused noise before clicking his tongue. Oikawa feels him shift, and suddenly the glow from before lights the cave up along the walls. Oikawa looks over to the source, and Iwaizumi is watching him from his place beside the wall. “Sorry, I forgot Human’s don’t have very good vision.”

Oikawa sticks his tongue out, glaring at him. “Well excuse me for not being able to see in the dark.”

“It’s more than that,” Iwaizumi mumbles, but Oikawa doesn’t get a chance to ask when he continues moving forward. “The light should stay the whole way, but we need to hurry.”

“Why?”

“In case someone followed us to the entrance,” Iwaizumi answers simply, and Oikawa hurries to Iwaizumi’s side without question.

The glow from the light helps him now, but Oikawa feels himself glancing to Iwaizumi as they walk through the tunnel. The light itself shines onto Iwaizumi as though it were attached to him and Oikawa’s eyes trace the shadows it creates over Iwaizumi’s face.

He’s more than certain if Iwaizumi’s real face looks anything like this one, Oikawa will still be completely attracted to him.

As they move through the tunnel, Oikawa feels the incline of their descent and he wonders how far down the Underground is. He fights the urge to ask, though he doesn’t think Iwaizumi would tell him to wait if he did ask. Still, he chooses not to, and he continues to follow along next to Iwaizumi.

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi starts, and Oikawa quickly peeks over to Iwaizumi before focusing on his footwork. He makes a gesture with his hand, telling Iwaizumi he’s listening. “Please keep your promise of not risking your life,” Iwaizumi whispers. “Whatever they tell you, if it sounds like you’ll be in danger…” Oikawa turns back to him, watches Iwaizumi struggle with the words. “Just don’t do anything where you’ll get hurt.”

He considers it a moment. His promise was a lie, and he’s still surprised Iwaizumi didn’t pick up on it. Though, if he were in Iwaizumi’s position and he’d heard Iwaizumi give a boldface lie like that, he’d probably just pretend it was true instead, to keep his heart from breaking.

Gulping, Oikawa nods, returning his gaze to his feet as he steps down some rocks. “I promise.”

Iwaizumi grabs his arm, pulls him to look at him. “No, Oikawa, I need you to swear—”

“I do!” Oikawa snaps, voice desperate. “Iwa-chan, I won’t do anything stupid.” He takes a shaking breath. “Besides, won’t you be there with me?”

Iwaizumi lets go, his mouth opening slightly in awe. “Do you want me there?”

Oikawa chokes out a laugh, moving forward to embrace Iwaizumi close. “Of course I do! I can’t just force myself to do this without you!”

Iwaizumi’s arms squeeze around him, keeping him close. “Then… if you need me, I’ll be there.”

Oikawa pulls away and smiles at him. “You’ll keep me safe, right?”

“Always,” Iwaizumi nods, his expression returning to one of confidence and Oikawa’s grin grows at the sight.

“Good,” he pulls further away, turning to continue down the path. “How much longer until we’re with your people?”

Iwaizumi hums to himself, thinking about it. “Not long now - we’ll be there soon, I think.”

Oikawa nods and watches his feet, taking careful steps down the rocks when the incline grows too large to walk down. Iwaizumi moves ahead of him, hopping down the rocks without care. When Oikawa hesitates on some of the steps, Iwaizumi returns to him and holds his hand out, helping Oikawa down until he’s standing secure on a flat surface. Iwaizumi continues the trek down, and Oikawa huffs a breath before following after.

Once he clambers down a few more steps, Oikawa groans and begins to hope they’re almost there. Iwaizumi looks back at him, his face concerned but amused. “Shut up, are we there yet?”

“Yeah, actually,” Iwaizumi chuckles, and Oikawa gapes at him. He glances around, seeing nothing but a giant wall. Iwaizumi laughs again and takes Oikawa’s hand, pulling him to the wall before them. “It’s just like outside, but it takes two.”

“I’m not a Syrd though,” Oikawa’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and Iwaizumi squeezes his hand.

“I’ll just push my energy into your hand, it should work,” Iwaizumi shrugs and pulls Oikawa’s hand up with his.

They press their palms to the rock’s surface and Iwaizumi places his other hand over Oikawa’s, and immediately there’s a tingling sensation moving through Oikawa’s nerves.

He gasps, winces despite it not hurting. Iwaizumi watches him, frowning. “Does it hurt?”

“N-no, just… shocking,” Oikawa murmurs, shifting his hand under Iwaizumi’s. Iwaizumi’s palm is warm, warmer than it was when he’d held Oikawa’s hand and he wonders if this is the feel of Iwaizumi’s energy.

“Give it a minute, it should work,” Iwaizumi whispers, and Oikawa thinks he’s talking to himself as a way to convince himself he’s right.

Oikawa holds his breath and waits, watching their hands. Nothing happens right away, but soon eight lines of light shoots out from under their hands and Oikawa gapes at the sight, watching the swirls. The crimson light coming from Iwaizumi is just like it was before, but the light coming from Oikawa’s hand has a pink hue to it.

“Why aren’t they the same?” Oikawa breathes, letting the breath go.

Iwaizumi smiles at him. “That’s your energy mixing with mine, I think.”

Oikawa stares at the light. “My energy is pink?”

“Probably not,” Iwaizumi laughs a little, “since mine is red, your’s is probably blue.”

“But red and blue is purple, not pink,” Oikawa frowns, glancing to Iwaizumi.

“Light mixes differently, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi mumbles back, and their lights shine across his face in interesting hues.

Oikawa watches him instead of the light, and before he knows it, Iwaizumi is stepping back from the wall, his hand removing itself from Oikawa’s. Oikawa steps back with him, feeling the warmth and the tingle begin to subside from his hand.

“So Human’s have energy like Syrd?”

“Not really,” Iwaizumi answers quickly. “Human’s don’t glow.”

Oikawa gapes at him, trying to picture Iwaizumi glowing red. “If I were a Syrd, I’d glow blue?”

“Maybe,” Iwaizumi shrugs, avoiding his eyes. The rocks finish falling away and he steps forward. “Let's go, Oikawa.”

He hesitates, still trying to picture a red Iwaizumi. He’s not sure he can, and he frowns before hurrying after him.

Beyond the wall is a tunnel again, but this time when the wall replaces itself it’s lit up. Oikawa sees the end of the tunnel and figures that must be the Underground. Biting his lip, he keeps his eyes on Iwaizumi’s back and continues at a pace a few steps behind him.

When they reach the entrance, Iwaizumi waits for him and Oikawa comes to a stop. His gaze remains on Iwaizumi before he takes in a deep breath, turning to look out into the Underground.

From the ceiling, there are crystals spiraling down in various forms like chandeliers, and Oikawa thinks they might be the tree’s roots. They’re faintly glowing in different colors, but it’s not as bright as the glow that came from Iwaizumi. His eyes follow down from the crystal roots, moving along the walls of the cavern. There are different formations carved into the rocks, and Oikawa assumes they’re meant to be like homes for the Syrd. There are some lines of glowing light along the walls of the houses, but again they’re not as bright as Iwaizumi’s. Finally, standing before him are various people that almost look Human, and staring up at the two of them.

Oikawa sucks in air, finally focusing on the people. They’re not Human, it’s clear when he really looks, and their skin is similar to a light skinned Human’s when tanned. Some of them have darker skin though, but the linking appearances for them all is the faint glow coming from their skin bodies. It’s not bright enough to light further than a few feet around them, but it’s there and the colors range in various hues.

Their eyes strike Oikawa the most, the dark colors of them all staring directly at him. He looks between them, realizes that the entire eyeball is one color and there are no discernable irises. The bad lighting makes it hard to see the exact colors, but Oikawa focuses on the lack of white at the edges.

He notes their ears are longer than a Human’s, but not by much, and not like the fantasy characters of Elves. The shape is thin, and Oikawa wonders where the opening is exactly. As he focuses on their ears, he realizes no one has particularly long hair, and it’s perhaps because it looks like their hair is flowing up and around their heads in a wind Oikawa can’t feel.

One of them steps forward, male in appearance, and Oikawa feels he’s seen him before. “Is that you, Haezuubil?”

Oikawa stares at him, and the voice resonates with him. “Iwaizumi-san?” he whispers, and the second he says it he’s sure of it. The man is Iwaizumi Masato, his best friend’s father. But he looks like everyone else, with a faint glow of red haloing his body, and Oikawa gawks at the man’s appearance.

Iwaizumi shifts next to him, and Oikawa’s gaze shoots to him in surprise. He’s lifting his shirt, fingers picking at a faint scar Oikawa had always wondered about. It was years old, and he never questioned it, just caught a glimpse of the scar on Iwaizumi’s lower rib cage and asked himself where it might have come from before ignoring it all together.

Now Iwaizumi is poking at it, and Oikawa sees it start to lift away, peeling like cords that run a few inches from the center around Iwaizumi’s abdomen. The cords are thin, barely noticeable until the illusion is broken, and suddenly as he rips it off, a light forms off of his skin.

Oikawa puts his hand up, shielding himself from the light, and the appearance of Iwaizumi as a Human shatters from that spot, the light spreading itself out and moving across his body.

When it seems to have stopped and Oikawa’s eyes have adjusted to the light, he drops his hand and gasps at the sight of Iwaizumi’s true form.

His usually spiky hair is slowly shifting about, like there’s a breeze moving through it, and his face has gained a few angles in his cheeks, but it’s not noticeable at first glance. His ears have thinned and stretched, and Oikawa sees the opening clearly like a Human's ear from Iwaizumi’s glow. His eyes are the same green-hazel they’d always been, but now the color has spread to the whites of his eyes. Above all, Iwaizumi is fully glowing, like his own personal sun, with a bright light containing hues of red.

Iwaizumi turns to Oikawa, looking into his eyes, and Oikawa notes he still has pupils at least. He knows he’s gaping in awe, wonders if it’s rude to stare, but Iwaizumi is glowing so beautifully he can’t look away.

He winces at Oikawa’s expression, a split second of a shift in his face but Oikawa catches it before he looks out to the Syrd before them. He stands straighter, nodding to his father.

“I’m home, dad.”

Iwaizumi Masato nods, a smile coming across his face. “Welcome home, Haezuubil.”

There is a beat of silence before the Syrd all cheer, but Oikawa’s unable to really hear them. His heartbeat is pounding and his eyes won’t shift away from Iwaizumi.

The Syrd are beautiful, but only Iwaizumi can hold his attention in this moment.


	5. A Prophecy

Iwaizumi’s father steps closer to them, reaching out to Iwaizumi in welcome. Oikawa steps back and watches the two embrace, Iwaizumi-san patting at his son’s back before pulling away, his hands holding Iwaizumi in place. “It’s been far too long, son.”

“I know,” Iwaizumi responds, and Oikawa can’t help but to compare the two.

In their Human appearances back on Earth, Iwaizumi was much like a younger version to his father. Though Iwaizumi Masato’s hair was slightly shorter, it was as spiky as Hajime’s and a rich, dark brown color. Hajime, still growing bit by bit, was just under his father’s height and while his father had a muscular build, it was clear only Hajime took part in athletic activities. His body was leaner, muscles toned by hard work and playing volleyball nearly everyday. His father on the other hand looked as though he spent most of his days lifting heavy weights and occasionally jogging despite being a businessman.

Now, Oikawa saw their true appearances, and things clicked together much differently. Iwaizumi Masato didn’t lift weights or go jogging - he wore light armor and bore cuts on his skin, suggesting his appearance came from being something like a warrior. His hair didn’t move as much as Hajime’s, and his skin’s glow isn’t even close to being like a bulb of personal light like his son’s. Masato’s face is just as aged as Oikawa remembers, but his eyes - hazel like his Human appearance - were duller in color than Oikawa can recall. Is it possible that Syrd eyes become duller in color as they age? Does that mean their eyesight is slipping?

He couldn’t say for sure, but the man is looking over at him now, a faint smile on his lips. “Tooru, we’ve all been waiting for this moment.” Iwaizumi-san holds an arm out to Oikawa, gesturing him over. Oikawa gulps and slowly steps closer before he’s pulled into an embrace, pressed close to Hajime as his father hugs them both.

They’re both insanely warm, and Oikawa hadn’t registered until now how cold it is in the Underground. Hajime’s red light isn’t as difficult to look at now that he’s pressed close into his personal space, but it’s definitely brighter than Oikawa’s ever seen his skin. Amazingly, the glow of red isn’t as noticeable the closer he gets, and the tanned color Iwaizumi had as a Human appears to be what glows now. Or at least it looks as though the glow comes from just under his skin and it’s bright enough to stretch out and light the general space around Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi-san lets them go and Oikawa shivers from losing their heat. “Come, Yoetuvi is waiting for you both.”

Oikawa blinks up at him, “what - _er_ \- who?”

He laughs, “my wife - you knew her as Ayuki though.” Oikawa blinks again, trying to remind himself that the names he knew for the Iwaizumi’s were false.

It doesn’t make it any easier to think of them that way. “Ah… Iwaizumi-san—”

“Allow me to reintroduce myself, Tooru,” he interrupts, his voice loud and controlling. Oikawa had forgotten how loud Iwaizumi-san could be. “I am Mazgadon Waemes - but if you feel more comfortable calling me Iwaizumi Masato, I will understand.”

Oikawa gives a small nod in understanding, not certain he could pronounce it anyway. He glances to the younger Iwaizumi and his head tilts to the side. Iwaizumi sighs, “my real name is Haezuubil Waemeset, but I’ll still answer to Iwaizumi.”

He nods again, feeling at a loss for words. Iwaizumi-san turns then and begins to walk through the crowd, and Oikawa looks to Iwaizumi for guidance. When Hajime nods to his father and begins to walk, Oikawa follows after and keeps pace alongside him. The Syrd they pass break away to give them a wide path, watching them walk and staring at Oikawa in awe, some beginning to whisper.

“He doesn’t glow, mama,” a little voice says through the murmuring.

“He’s not a Syrd, child - he’s a Human,” a woman answers.

“This is the Hero?” - “Haezuubil has grown, and look at that glow!” - “Haezuubil really found the Hero?” - “I always had faith in Mazgadon’s boy!” - “That ain’t no Hero, he’s scrawny.” - “How terrible to not glow, do Humans even have the energy for anything?” - “Humans are kind of ugly, huh?” - “I think he’s cute, but Haezuubil makes it hard to notice him.”

Oikawa focuses on his feet, watching where Iwaizumi stepped to ensure he wouldn’t go off track. The whispering continues, but the pounding in his ears makes it hard to recognise what they’re saying. He almost considers taking off the necklace so he won’t have a clue, but then he might miss something Hajime says and he’s not sure he wants to miss anything.

When the crowd is no longer around them and the chattering gets harder to hear, Oikawa looks back and sees that they’ve made it to the other side and are coming upon a large archway, faint glows from the hanging crystal roots lighting the pathway.

Hajime bumps their hands together and Oikawa turns his gaze to him. He doesn’t meet Oikawa’s eyes and mutters lowly, “Humans aren’t ugly, Oikawa; don’t listen to any of them.”

“They have a point though,” Oikawa whispers back, “next to you, I must look terrible.”

He snaps his eyes to Oikawa’s, and the color seems to flash a little brighter. “Don’t play dumb, you’re extremely good looking and you know it.”

Oikawa’s face heats at that and he refocuses on Iwaizumi’s father’s back a few feet ahead. “I stand by what I said - the Syrd are beautiful.”

“So are Humans,” Iwaizumi grumbles and Oikawa’s ears burn.

He knows this is all a matter of taste and Societal preferences - Iwaizumi grew up on Earth, surrounded by Humans. If he ever felt attraction, it would be to the people around him and everyone on Earth is Human. That’s the only reason Iwaizumi thinks Humans are beautiful, it had nothing to do with Oikawa.

“Your name,” Oikawa moves on, deciding to change the subject before his face falls off from blushing anymore, “it had an extra syllable to your dad’s. I assume that’s your surname, but…”

Iwaizumi grunts, focusing on watching his father. “The surname changes once you’re bound, and your children will take your combined names but to note they’re your children, it’s given an extra sound.”

“What?”

Iwaizumi hums, trying to think of how to explain it. “Your given name never changes, but the surname… when bound—”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like marriage - anyway,” Iwaizumi licks his lips, thinking hard on how to explain it, “my dad’s surname was Emvospuxin and my mom’s was Wafawntina. When they became bound, their names were combined and became Waemes, Wa from mom and Em from dad, and the -es suffix is given as a way to announce their coming together as one.” Iwaizumi briefly glances to Oikawa before rolling his neck, reaching up to rub at it. “So when I was born, my name was announced as Waemeset, the -et indicating me as their son.” He shrugs, “by syllables in surnames, three means you’re bound and four means you’re someone’s kid.”

Oikawa’s mouth is hanging open as he takes it all in, but he’s far too focused on understanding to care he looks like a fish. “So… what is this bound thing like?”

“I just said it’s like marriage,” Iwaizumi grumbles, rolling his eyes, “only there is no divorce. That’s impossible for Syrd when bound.”

“Oh…” Oikawa bites his lip, not willing to let himself continue on for fear of saying something stupid. Like “can we become bound?” because he’s sure that won’t go over well.

The Syrd didn’t seem to like his appearance, what would they say to Iwaizumi becoming bound to him - to a Human?

“Makes you wonder,” Iwaizumi continues on, voice quieter than before like as if he means for Oikawa to not hear him, “if a Human could become bound to a Syrd, huh?”

Oikawa’s face burns at that, and he chooses not to answer, pretending he couldn’t hear. Good thing too, because Iwaizumi-san has stopped up ahead and is waiting for them to make their way over.

He looks around, seeing that they’ve come to a new network of a large cave like where they’d entered. Only now it looks like this is a neighborhood, with only a few large carvings of what might be buildings. This must be where the rich Syrd live.

Shit, is Iwaizumi’s family rich? Do they have that kind of classism here?

“This is our home, Tooru,” Iwaizumi-san says, smiling at him as they approach. “It’s straight through the largest of the tunnels from the center town, if that helps.”

So they started in the center of town - Oikawa bobs his head up and down, wondering if his neck would hurt from all the nodding he’s been doing. Iwaizumi-san chuckles, moving to push open the stone door. Oikawa doesn’t notice any hinges and wonders how they’d made the door.

Iwaizumi pushes him inside and Oikawa stops trying to worry about the structural architecture of their carved homes.

He’s immediately greeted by an embrace from a short woman who’s faint glow matches Iwaizumi’s father’s, only the color is slightly more purple than red. Not knowing what to do, Oikawa reaches down and hugs the woman, uncertain as to who she is - her short pixie cut is tickling his nose though and he tries to shift away from the moving hair.

When she pulls away, Oikawa realizes he had been pulled into a hug by Iwaizumi Ayuki, his best friend’s mother. Her eyes are bright blue, easy to see despite the dark lighting and her small red-purple glow suits her. “Tooru, it’s so good to truly meet you.”

Oikawa smiles, “same to you, Iwaizumi-san.”

She giggles lightly, the same laugh he’s always heard from the kind woman. “I’m sorry, I should properly introduce myself! My real name is Yoetuvi Waemes, and it’s so good to finally see you in the flesh, Tooru!”

Oikawa forces his fake smile, wishing he could for real, but her mention of never having truly met him reminds him of the twelve years Hajime spent without his family.

Masato reaches over to put his arm around Ayuki’s shoulders when a smaller person walks into the room. Instantly Oikawa is certain that this is Hajime’s little sister Kaida despite the purple glow barely coming off her skin, and he wonders what jumbled mess of words she’ll tell him is her name.

“That’s Adelovadee,” Hajime says in a tone that suggests he doesn't like saying it, “just call her Dee.”

Kaida - or Dee, seeing as that’s so much easier than the long mess he just said - huffs, crossing her arms and glaring over at Hajime. Oikawa waves to her, and her pout slowly drops before she hurries over and hugs him quick. Before he can respond, Dee has turned and ran from the room.

“I’m so sorry about Adelovadee,” Ayuki says, sighing sadly, “she’s been blaming you for her brother not being here, but we keep telling her it’s important for ‘Zuubil to return with you.”

Oikawa doesn’t answer her, instead he focuses on his shoes. Why was a six year old sent to get him? Or, and the question returns, is Iwaizumi even the same age as him now?

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa starts, turning to face him, “how old are you?”

Iwaizumi appears surprised by the question. “Same age as you, you know that.”

“Then,” Oikawa bites his lip, rounding to face his best friend’s parents, “why send a six year old to get me?”

Masato frowns and Ayuki avoids his eyes. “He was the only one who could go.”

Oikawa bites his inner cheek to keep from snapping at him, breathing in deeply to calm down. “But he was only six.”

“Tooru,” Masato shakes his head, sighing as though he didn’t expect Oikawa to understand. He’s not wrong, Oikawa can’t understand the logic of sending a child in a spaceship to an alien planet and collect their coveted Hero. “I think it’s time you meet the prophet - she’ll explain everything.”

Oikawa narrows his eyes, standing straighter. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”

Ayuki starts at this, looking between the two men. “Wait, no! Tooru and ‘Zuubil have been traveling for so long, they need some rest!”

“Iwaizumi-san, we can rest after I’ve learned why I’m here,” Oikawa answers her, trying his best to send her a smile again. Her shoulders slump and she nods sadly, glancing to her husband as though to tell him he may take Oikawa now.

Masato steps forward, gesturing for Oikawa to follow through the doorway they came through. Oikawa begins to, but he stops when Hajime doesn’t follow. “Iwa-chan?”

“Haezuubil can’t join us, Tooru,” Masato says, and Hajime avoids Oikawa’s eyes. “I will take you to meet her.”

Oikawa pouts, staring at his best friend before shaking his head. Iwaizumi promised to stay by his side if Oikawa needed him, and even though he knows Iwaizumi’s father, at this point on this alien planet the only one he trusts is Iwaizumi Hajime. Even if that’s not his real name and he’s glowing brighter than anyone else here, he’s still Oikawa’s best friend.

“I want Iwa-chan to come,” Oikawa says, his voice firm but soft, knowing he’ll probably be denied. Iwaizumi turns his gaze to Oikawa, and the flash of light is there in his eyes once more. His father sighs behind Oikawa and he watches Iwaizumi’s focus switch to the older man. Oikawa sees Iwaizumi stand straighter before he moves to stand beside him, and Oikawa bites back the grin when he turns to follow Masato with Hajime at his side.

Iwaizumi-san leads the two back out into the large neighborhood-like cave and turns to head through a smaller archway than the first one directly across from their home. Oikawa glances around, focusing on the crystal roots and the way their light seems to sparkle in the ceiling. It’s almost like a star system, but the shine of the crystals gives away the truth, and the rock formations in the ceiling is enough to remind him they’re underground.

Oikawa notices the different shine of the crystals, and the ones that have been purposefully placed into the rock where there are no roots react to Iwaizumi’s bright red light. Oikawa peeks under his lashes to his friend, feeling the warmth radiating off of him and watches the light shift with his movements, the rays shimmering with different shades of red.

Red suits Iwaizumi, Oikawa thinks. While he looked good in the blue of their uniform, it was too cold of a color to match the heated atmosphere Iwaizumi gave off - not that he was some kind of angry person, but rather that Iwaizumi is this warm being that did things to the fullest caliber. Iwaizumi (and this thought might be because he’s literally shining bright from his own skin) is like the sun to Oikawa, and his warm rays give Oikawa comfort in the dark Underground. Maybe that makes Oikawa some kind of orbital planet, or even the moon that reflects the light the sun sends to it.

Oikawa winces at the thought, his face burning at how cheesy his mind can be with these feelings he has. With every new development since the explosion, Oikawa can almost believe Iwaizumi returns his feelings, but the doubt resting in his chest surges up and reminds him of all the reasons he could be wrong - why he’s just reading too much into things.

From what he can understand, all Oikawa is to Iwaizumi - and the people of Sakina for that matter - is some prophesized Hero who’s come to save them all.

He frowns at that thought, willing himself to remember the last twelve years of friendship he’s had with Iwaizumi. If Iwaizumi only ever saw him that way, he didn’t have to involve himself with Oikawa and his problems. Iwaizumi could have kept Oikawa at a distance, but he’d grown with Oikawa - he’s seen him cry and cried with him, and he’s shared his deepest fears. The most important fear however was bringing Oikawa to Sakina, and Oikawa forced him to face that fear.

Now they’re walking through the tunnel networks of the Underground’s cave system and Oikawa is to meet the prophet who can explain everything Iwaizumi wouldn’t.

Iwaizumi Masato leads them to a smaller cave than the rest, the crystal roots hanging far lower and spiraling down the walls of the cave. Oikawa stares at them, the twinkling lights within slightly brighter than the rest of the roots he’d been seeing. He turns to the small rock shack looking structure in the center of the cave, and looks between to the men with him.

“Carvaline Sespoenarkar is waiting for you,” Masato says, his voice softer than before. “Carvaline will retell you the prophecy we all know, and should there be more, you will be the one to receive it.”

Oikawa gulps, shifting his gaze to the younger Iwaizumi. “Are you… coming with me?”

Iwaizumi glances to his father and Oikawa watches his mouth twitch, fighting a frown. “I can’t, you have to go in alone.”

Oikawa turns back to the little hut, feeling as though his skin would jump off his body and make way for his heart to run. He takes a deep breath, uncertain he would understand any of the prophecy.

An old woman suddenly appears in the open doorway and Oikawa jumps in surprise. Her hair is a dull gray, longer than any of the Syrd he’s seen and shifting around her head like a mermaids in water. The light she gives off is a faint blue, radiating only an inch from her skin, and her eyes look purely white. Her skin itself is old and wrinkled, like any elder Human Oikawa’s seen, with some of her skin sagging in odd places.

He watches her for a moment, her gaze focusing on him. Then her pupils, easy to see from this distance with the white that surrounds it, turn slightly to Oikawa’s right, where Iwaizumi stands. Her hand shakes when it begins to rise and Oikawa holds his breath once her finger points to them both.

Masato grunts, turning to them. “Carvaline cannot speak unless it’s a prophecy,” he explains, “and judging by this motion, she’s allowing you to enter with Haezuubil.”

Carvaline’s head inclines once before she returns within her home and Oikawa releases his breath. Iwaizumi turns to him and nods towards the house, waiting for Oikawa to move. He hesitates, a shiver running down his spine when he begins to move, and Iwaizumi brushes his hand with his own.

The warmth is enough to subside the shivers for a moment and Oikawa gives him a faint smile. The corner of Iwaizumi’s mouth twitches into a small smile before he gestures for Oikawa to move forward.

He enters the small building, the light from Iwaizumi helping to see in the darkness. There are no crystals embedded into the home of Carvaline, and the only light outside of Iwaizumi’s glow comes from the makeshift windows and the crystal roots just outside. Oikawa glances around, unable to see beyond the few feet radiating from his best friend until he spots her dull, blue glow in the corner.

Oikawa moves towards her, watching his step from what he can see off of Iwaizumi’s light. Iwaizumi follows just behind him, but he stops when Carvaline holds up her hand. Oikawa pauses as well, turning back to him. He shakes his head, “I can’t come closer. Only you can.”

Gulping down the knot in his throat, Oikawa turns to face Carvaline once more, moving slowly through the darkness. His foot bumps something in front of him, and by feeling around it with his hands, he finds that it’s like a stone chair. Carefully, Oikawa moves around to seat himself before the old woman.

He waits, watching her and trying to meet her gaze. Carvaline’s eyes focus on the table between them and Oikawa looks down, unable to see anything on the surface in the darkness. Her faint glow doesn’t quite reach him, only illuminating her appearance for him to see her face. Iwaizumi’s standing too far back for his light to properly reach him, and the faint glow that does is barely enough for him to see his own hand in front of his face.

Oikawa takes a deep breath and sits up. “So um… hello?” He starts, watching her. Carvaline doesn’t answer (this whole only speaking in prophecies making it difficult to know if she’s listening) and Oikawa chews on his lip. “You’re to tell me this prophecy right? What is it exactly?” Carvaline’s eyes slowly shift to meet his, but other than that she says nothing. Oikawa licks the soreness from his lips now. “Are you sure I’m the Hero?”

Carvaline’s eyes widen and she shakily raises both hands, reaching for something on the table. Oikawa leans back, worried about whatever it might be. A crystal reacts to her touch and begins to glow, illuminating at least five feet around them, and Oikawa watches the rainbow of light shimmer from Carvaline’s touch.

“ _One meant for fame, who bears no defeat_ ,” she begins in a ragged voice, and a faint image shines in the rays of light. Oikawa sees Sakina, or what he supposes is Sakina, and the Syrd milling about through beautiful crystal trees. The Syrd have no faces, and the night imagery gives them all a faint glow. The image focuses onto one in particular with a beautifully bright pink glow. “ _Will one day turn shame, and move towards deceit,_ ” Carvaline continues smoothly, and the Syrd with the pink glow grows harsh and shadowed over with an evil appearance, “ _bringing terror that reigns, over cowards in despair_ ,” the rest of the Syrd grew small compared to the pink Syrd, running in fear. Some turn to fight, but the pink glowing Syrd defeats them. “ _They fight despite pains, but no one will dare, to challenge the bringer of chaos_.”

The image burns out on the sight of the evil Syrd laughing over the planet, and while Oikawa understands it was meant to give him an idea of what has come to pass, he wishes he could have seen the real images. The light from the crystal dies and they’re plunged into darkness again. He blinks, trying to will his eyes to see in the darkness.

“Is that it?” He asks uncertainly, returning his focus to Carvaline’s face. “If that’s the whole prophecy, why would anyone believe in me?”

Carvaline reaches for the crystal again, and Oikawa tries not to focus on it too much - he has a feeling it will glow bright again and his eyes can’t take this back and forth of light to dark and back again. When the glow returns, he looks to the rays of light to see what images will appear this time.

It begins with all the Syrd figures, hurrying to the Underground, huddling together in fear. “ _Even so we’ve kept heart_ ,” one Syrd stands above them all, the glow around him red and the rest of the fearful Syrd watch the red one in awe, “ _despite the great loss, as one day soon,_ ” and the image flashes to show a galaxy that looks familiar to Oikawa, “ _a hero will cross, from his own lagoon, of milky white stars._ ” He gulps, knowing for sure now that he was looking at the Milky Way Galaxy - his home.

Oikawa gapes at the sight before it disappears, and he shakes his head rapidly. “Just because I come from the Milky Way Galaxy doesn’t mean I’m the Hero though!”

Carvaline doesn’t give much pause when she reaches forward again and Oikawa sighs, knowing she’d answer his unasked question with the next part of the prophecy.

“ _Upon a planet of blue, and under a shrine, the hero will be born to, a crab star design_ ,” she recites in her shaky voice, and the images shown give Oikawa a clear view of Earth, of his home in Japan near a small shrine. He bites his lip when the Zodiac sign for Cancer shines in the stars above, and he has to admit that’s pretty accurate to him - except he wasn’t the only Cancer zodiac born child in Japan. “ _Our hero’s eyes gleam, with our galaxy’s flare_ ,” she continues and Oikawa gapes at the thought of his eyes gleaming like any star system, “ _and he is all you’ll dream, until you become a pair_.”

An image of Oikawa faintly shines in the light before it goes dim again and he gawks at it. “So… someone’s dreamt of me?”

Carvaline doesn’t respond, and the last two lines bring Oikawa a very large headache. He honestly has no idea what that means - was that bit directed to someone? Or do all the Syrd dream of him? But then what about this pair?

His neck burns, and he stiffens, unable to turn around. Was that part about Iwaizumi?

He takes a deep breath and stares up at Carvaline. “I guess… there’s no way to deny I’m the Hero now. What do I do?”

Oikawa licks his lips, waiting for Carvaline to continue, but nothing comes. Had he heard the whole prophecy? That doesn’t make sense - don’t prophecies explain to you how you’ll defeat the great evil, even if it’s extremely confusing?

Iwaizumi clears his throat and Oikawa jumps at the sound. “That’s all of the prophecy Oikawa.”

He whips around to gawk at him, “but how am I supposed to defeat this ‘ _bringer of chaos_ ’?! Don’t prophecies explain that?!”

A warm, squishy hand grabs his wrist then and he hears a raspy gasp come from Carvaline. Iwaizumi’s eyes widen and Oikawa shudders at the contact before turning back to her.

Her pupils are gone, and Oikawa feels dread shoot through him from her touch.

“ _The hero became prey_  
_Fleeing the enemy_  
_To find he must obey_  
_The underworld hegemony._  
_With no other choice_  
_You must go on_  
_To find the equipoise_  
_Within an innocent spawn._  
_The balance you seek_  
_Resides in the gut_  
_Of one so weak_  
_Yet a difficult cut_  
_Upon skin so unique._  
_Once the bringer of justice_  
_Has been acquired,_  
_Place within your cutlass_  
_And the evil will be expired._  
_Thus an end to the darkness will come_  
_And the start to a new world order arrives._ ”

Carvaline’s eyes return to normal and her body relaxes, her hold on Oikawa’s arm loosening before she pulls her hand back into her own space. Oikawa gapes at her, the words spinning around in his head.

That’s how she told new prophecies, he didn’t need to be told this fact.

Silence screams at him from all sides and Oikawa gulps, shaking a little. He has to find something - something that will help him cut down the dictator who controls the Overworld. A cutlass, that was a sword of some kind, would be his weapon, but first he has to find something that resides in the belly of something that can’t be cut open.

Oikawa brings his shaking gaze to Iwaizumi, who’s gaping back at him. “We… we need something…”

“ _Resides in the gut of one so weak…_ ” Iwaizumi murmurs to himself, eyebrows scrunched together in thought. “ _Yet a difficult cut upon skin so unique…_ ”

“What does that mean?” Oikawa asks him, standing to join Iwaizumi at his side. “What kind of creature has thick skin and would eat whatever this… 'equipoise' is?”

Iwaizumi hums in thought, scratching at his head. Oikawa watches him, unable to answer his own question - this isn’t his territory of expertise, it’s Iwaizumi’s.

That same light from before flashes in Iwaizumi’s eyes and he snaps his gaze to Oikawa’s. “Bukuret!”

Oikawa blinks at him, racking his brain for what that means. “I don’t remember this exactly…”

“It’s a myth,” Iwaizumi continues, his face brightening - Oikawa fights the urge to wince at how bright he becomes - and he’s smiling at the idea of it. “But all myths come from some kind of truth, right?”

Oikawa watches him, his excitement infectious and he grins back. “It’s more than I got. So, where can we find Bukuret?”


	6. Heir To Our Legacy

Oikawa stares into the darkness of the supposed room he was lead to, laying on his side. Behind him on the second bed, the light emanating from Iwaizumi’s body keeps him from feeling like he’s being swallowed up by the shadows of the Underground.

“Iwa-chan…?” He whispers, slowly rolling to look at his glowing best friend.

Iwaizumi’s back is to him, but Oikawa sees his body tense in response to hearing Oikawa. “Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep,” Oikawa admits, and Iwaizumi finally rolls to face him as well. His red glow is helpful through this darkness, but by how bright he is compared to the rest of the room, Oikawa feels unable to look at him directly. “I feel like we need to find Bukuret now…”

Iwaizumi shakes his head, sitting up in his bed. Oikawa moves to do the same, watching him closely. “Bukuret is a planet - the myth is what’s on Bukuret.”

Oikawa opens his mouth to respond, but he can’t seem to figure out what he wants to say first. Closing his mouth, Oikawa glances to the darkness of the room, Iwaizumi’s glow not reaching far enough to light it all up. “So… what is it we’re supposed to find on Bukuret?”

“I guess you wouldn’t remember, it was a long time ago,” Iwaizumi murmurs, and Oikawa returns his eyes to him. “Bukuret is an uninhabitable planet here in the Henshaw Galaxy. There’s this myth that creatures called the Beherees lives there though, and they eat everything in their paths—”

“Ah!” Oikawa cuts him off, pointing to him in excitement. “And they have uncuttable skin!”

Iwaizumi blinks at him in surprise before he grins, “so you do remember.”

Oikawa beams back, winking sweetly, “of course, Iwa-chan’s stories were the best part of my childhood.”

The immediate light around Iwaizumi’s face grows a bit darker in red and he turns his face away, chuckling a little. Oikawa watches him, wondering if that means anything. Before he can ponder about the redness of Iwaizumi’s light, he turns back, the glow returning to normal. “Anyway, I think we need to train a little before even trying to go to Bukuret.”

“Why?”

“Well, the Creath seem to be everywhere lately,” Iwaizumi sighs, scratching his head, effectively making the flowing hairs shift even more, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on Bukuret trying to find Beherees themselves - especially if they turn out to be real.”

Oikawa hums in thought, looking down to the makeshift blanket Iwaizumi’s mother gave him. “What if they’re not real? Do we need a plan B?” He focuses back on Iwaizumi suddenly, eyebrows scrunched together in worry. “Hell, how do we plan to cut through their skin? The equipoise is in the stomach of one of these things, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be eaten by one just to get it.”

Iwaizumi stares at him, and it’s clear he hadn’t considered this. “We’ll… we’ll worry about it tomorrow. For now, get some rest - I’m going to be training you to fight as soon as you’re awake.”

Oikawa sighs, watching Iwaizumi turn away to lie down again. He doesn’t move right away, watching Iwaizumi shift in his bed about two feet away, trying to get comfortable. His light hasn’t dimmed even a little since they entered the Underground, and Oikawa wonders how long it will take before Iwaizumi’s beautiful glow becomes dim like all the other Syrd’s.

He lays down, not turning away from the warmth coming from Iwaizumi. Briefly, he wonders how long the Syrd of the Underground have before their lights completely die out, and what happens to them when it does. Oikawa squeezes his eyes shut, forcing that train of thought from his mind, and willing himself to sleep.

———

Oikawa feels like he’s falling when something hard catches him. He groans, wondering why he’s having that horrible dream when he realizes he’s not dreaming anymore - he’s awake and in a heap on the rock floor.

“ _Ow_...” he groans, sitting up to rub at his sore body.

“I told you to wake up,” Iwaizumi scoffs, and Oikawa looks up to see him standing over him. Oikawa quickly puts two and two together and realizes Iwaizumi had shoved him out of bed, so he shifts his face into a glare. “Hey, I told you we have training to do today.”

Oikawa blinks and suddenly the intense red glow coming off of Iwaizumi catches his attention, the dim crystals in the ceiling remind him of where he is.

He had almost hoped he was just having a crazy intense dream, but Oikawa knows he’s not dreaming. As good looking as Iwaizumi always has been to him, Oikawa’s not sure his dreams could ever enhance that attractiveness with a glowing aura like this. In some ways, he can admit the Syrd are odd looking to him, a Human, but Iwaizumi…

Iwaizumi makes it work - that or Oikawa’s got some kind of filter that just makes Iwaizumi look even better than he actually is. He supposes that’s what having a crush on someone for several years does to you.

Iwaizumi sighs, reaching down to help Oikawa stand. “Get dressed and let’s go, my mom has something for us to eat and then we’re going to go find some place so I can train you to fight.” Iwaizumi hands him clothes that remind him of home, along with his club jacket he’d been wearing prior to leaving Earth. Oikawa hurries to change his sweats out for the shorts, feeling the cold of the Underground lick at his bare skin.

Shivering, Oikawa zips his jacket up before Iwaizumi grabs hold of his arm again. Oikawa allows Iwaizumi to drag him, certain he wouldn’t be able to follow on his own as everything comes crashing back to him.

The explosion, the Creath, the wormholes - Hell, arriving at Sakina and going to the Underground. Oikawa’s head feels heavy when he recalls the prophecy, and that’s barely coming back to him as it is. He knows he can’t recall all of it just from hearing it once, but the important pieces - the fact that he’s some Hero and there’s some dictator in the Overworld that he has to defeat - stand out to him, causing his body to feel drenched in ice at the very thought.

“Good morning ‘Zuubil and Tooru, I have fresh ivimansi for you,” Iwaizumi’s mother calls, smiling cheerfully at him as they enter the dimly lit kitchen. Dee doesn’t turn to greet them, but Oikawa does his best to smile to the older woman. She’s setting something down on the table Iwaizumi pulls him to, and Oikawa stares at it in confusion. “Oh, it’s a fruit dear - best of the Underground right now.”

Iwaizumi sits without complaint, gesturing for Oikawa to do the same. “It tastes like mandarins if that helps.”

His mother gives him an odd look, but Oikawa nods to him and joins him at the table. Dee huffs and stuffs the last of her fruit into her mouth before standing from her seat and storming away. Oikawa watches her leave, frowning sadly.

“Don’t worry about Dee,” Iwaizumi murmurs, stuffing the fruit into his mouth. Oikawa moves to do the same, hesitating for only a second.

It does taste like mandarins, yet there was a slight difference in that this fruit has a much more sweet flavor to it than the fruit of Earth.

Iwaizumi nods when Oikawa continues to eat the food, quickly eating his own portion. Oikawa almost wishes they could have something else to eat, but he squashes that down soon after thinking it - it’s possible the Underground doesn’t actually have any food to grow or stock up on, and they have certain members who go to the surface for more when they run low.

He savors his portion, willing himself to not feel too hungry. While he did have a snack after practice last night on the way home, he and Iwaizumi didn’t actually have a real dinner. Oikawa hadn’t really noticed even when trying to sleep, but now that he thinks about it, he does feel the after effects of going to sleep on an empty stomach.

When the last of the fruit is gone, Iwaizumi stands and gestures for Oikawa to follow after him. He glances back to Iwaizumi’s mother, who smiles encouragingly to him. He smiles back, but he knows it must look fake - at least Iwaizumi would be able to tell the difference. Oikawa turns and quickens his pace to make sure he doesn’t lose Iwaizumi.

Oikawa sweeps his gaze over the cave system when they walk outside of Iwaizumi’s home, and a few Syrd turn to watch them make their way back towards the center of the Underground. Oikawa avoids their eyes, hopeful he won’t hear their whispers again. None of them say anything, continuing on their own way or returning to their conversations with neighbors. The tunnel has a few Syrd walking through and they pass by without a glance in Oikawa’s direction. He relaxes, happy to not be stared at today.

Iwaizumi hurries through the town, and while there are more Syrd, Oikawa notes that most will look to Iwaizumi before avoiding Oikawa completely. He frowns, watching the Syrd closely. None of them will meet his eyes, but they all do glance at Iwaizumi before averting their eyes. Oikawa turns his gaze to his best friend and clicks his tongue, moving to walk beside him instead.

“Are you… glaring at everyone?” He asks, and Iwaizumi jumps, slowing to a jump when he turns to Oikawa. The general area around them grows quiet, and the Syrd nearby hurry away.

“I,” Iwaizumi sighs, “I am, sort of glaring at them…”

“Why?” Oikawa is getting sick of asking why all the time, but he knows if he doesn’t, he’ll never fully understand what’s going on.

“Because they keep giving you weird looks,” Iwaizumi mutters, avoiding Oikawa’s eyes. “I didn’t want you to have to deal with it today.”

Oikawa feels his neck prickling as though someone is staring at him, but he licks his lips and stands a little taller. “That’s nice of you, Iwa-chan, but I don’t mind - I’m the alien here, they can gape at me all they want.”

Iwaizumi meets his eyes before his gaze shifts beyond Oikawa and immediately he scowls. The sensation of being stared at dissipates and Oikawa takes a deep breath, preparing to sigh dramatically. “Sorry, I won’t do it anymore.”

“If you really think you need to, then I won’t stop you,” Oikawa shakes his head, “but please don’t isolate yourself from your own people for me.”

Iwaizumi looks down to his feet, and the little bit of light coming from his head seems to dim in color - the intensity is still there, but it just isn’t as red as it was before. “The Humans are my people, Oikawa. I don’t know these people anymore.”

Oikawa’s heart speeds up as Iwaizumi turns to continue heading in some direction, and he swallows the lump in his throat. While it makes sense, and Oikawa still can’t think of Iwaizumi as alien to himself, it still is hard to hear Iwaizumi admit it out loud. His home is on Earth, where he grew up with Oikawa - the Syrd may as well be as foreign to Iwaizumi as it is to Oikawa, if a little less so.

Hurrying to catch up to Iwaizumi, Oikawa keeps his eyes down, knowing the Syrd would begin to stare again now that Iwaizumi isn’t (hopefully isn’t) glaring at them. He keeps pace behind him, and they make their way through several tunnels until Iwaizumi stops him.

“This should be good enough, there isn’t really anything here,” Iwaizumi says to him, and Oikawa looks around at the cave they’ve stopped in.

It’s about as small as the cave the prophet lives in, only it’s like Iwaizumi said - nothing is there. There’s some growths that remind Oikawa of mushrooms in a few places, and the crystals in the walls aren’t as bright as the rest of the Underground’s lighting system. Oikawa glances up to see the roots of crystals hanging overhead, coming down to hang maybe six or so feet above him. They’re dim as well, and Oikawa wonders if they belong to dead crystal trees up on the surface.

Iwaizumi moves to remove his jacket and Oikawa turns to watch him. The glow coming from Iwaizumi seems to intensify when the clothing comes away, as though it’d been trapped within and was ready to shine as brightly as possible now that the skin is exposed. Oikawa stares at Iwaizumi’s exposed arms, watches the light glimmer from his skin and the rays of light shift through hues of red with every movement of his body.

He gulps, trying to focus on Iwaizumi’s face. He nods towards Oikawa with a raised brow, “you should probably take off your jacket too. It’s cold, but we’ll be moving enough that you should warm up soon.”

Oikawa reaches up and unzips his jacket, peeking up to Iwaizumi through his lashes to see if he’s watching. His face warms when Iwaizumi’s eyes follow the movement of the zipper coming undone, and Oikawa gulps again when he begins to remove the jacket from his arms. Iwaizumi looks away when he looks up further and Oikawa frowns, throwing the jacket to the side.

“Okay, so what are we going to do?” Oikawa asks, crossing his arms. Iwaizumi rolls his neck, cracking it a bit before he begins to stretch out his arms. Oikawa sighs, shifting to stretch as well.

“I’m going to come at you and you’re going to defend yourself,” Iwaizumi grunts, bending to stretch out his legs. Oikawa pauses, narrowing his eyes.

“And that teaches me… what?”

“Just trust your instinct and fight,” Iwaizumi shrugs, smirking up at him. Oikawa stands straight, sending him an unamused expression that causes Iwaizumi to laugh. “We used to play fight all the time - treat it like that and you’ll figure it out.”

Oikawa rolls his eyes, “yeah but—”

Iwaizumi sprints towards him and Oikawa gasps, stepping away quickly to dodge the tackle. He glares at him, ready to tell him off about how he should warn someone when Iwaizumi twists around, kicking out at him. Oikawa ducks, but Iwaizumi finishes his turn about by slamming his forearm against Oikawa’s shoulder, knocking him over.

“ _Ow, what the fuck?!_ ”

“I said defend, not dodge!”

Oikawa scowls, standing up to see Iwaizumi shifting toward him, and Oikawa lifts his arms up to block the punch he sees coming. “How is this _training_?!”

“All Syrd learn to fight by doing it!” Iwaizumi grunts, switching hands and punching again. “I know you can fight, just use your instincts!”

“I’m a Human, Iwa-chan!” He snaps, dropping down to avoid a third punch and kicking Iwaizumi’s legs out from under him. He jumps over Oikawa’s kick though, and twists to send his own leg out, trying to kick Oikawa in midair.

Oikawa grabs his leg and with as much strength as he can bring forth, he throws Iwaizumi to the side. Iwaizumi flips his body, landing on his hands and feet and springing back up to run back to Oikawa, getting ready to punch once more.

Oikawa prepares himself, grabbing Iwaizumi’s wrist to redirect it away, moving forward to jam his hand into the middle of Iwaizumi’s chest, forcing him to stumble back. Iwaizumi catches himself though, so Oikawa rears back to punch his gut as hard as he can.

While they have play fought before, Oikawa had never really thrown a real punch before, and he knows from the way his hand stings that he must have done it wrong. However, he can’t dwell on that fact, because even though Iwaizumi is beginning to double over, he’s reaching up to pull Oikawa’s head down to meet his knee.

Oikawa pulls out of Iwaizumi’s hold, quickly moving around him to jab an elbow into Iwaizumi’s back and send him to the ground. Panting, Oikawa stands over him, rubbing at his sore wrist with his other hand. It doesn’t seem broken, but he probably needs to ask Iwaizumi how to throw a real punch.

He feels the fall before he registers the pain of his calves being kicked and Oikawa throws out his arms to catch himself, ensuring his head doesn’t hit the rock hard ground too hard. A weight comes down over his waist before he can figure out what happened, and his right hand is held against the ground.

“Don’t ever assume your opponent is down for good,” Iwaizumi pants, smirking above him. Oikawa stares up at him, the light creating a heavenly look around Iwaizumi’s head.

Oikawa quickly runs through what must have happened - just because he knocked Iwaizumi down didn’t mean he was finished with Oikawa, and Iwaizumi had kicked him down before pinning him there.

Which meant that Iwaizumi is sitting on him, and the way he hovers over Oikawa is far too familiar from Oikawa’s dreams for him to remain calm. Oikawa’s face burns and he tries to think of a way to get out of this without alerting other parts of himself to the position they’re in.

However, Iwaizumi is extremely warm - despite how cold and, _ugh,_ damp the ground feels, the heat radiating from Iwaizumi is keeping Oikawa from shivering. He gulps, not sure if he is willing to move out from under Iwaizumi.

His hesitation to move earns him a raised brow from Iwaizumi. “What? You’re not going to even try to get out?”

Oikawa takes a deep breath, and that nervous energy from having a crush on someone he usually keeps at bay around Iwaizumi bubbles up in his throat. He thinks about saying something about trying to figure it out, but instead of anything like that, Oikawa word vomits. “Oh no, I _really_ just like being under you,” he whispers, and his voice sounds far more breathless and flirty rather than nervous like he expected. _Shit_...

He doesn’t even get a chance to be mortified by what he’s said; the red shine coming off of Iwaizumi burns even hotter, and the red grows darker. Oikawa’s eyes widen at the feeling and the sight of it, but just when he is about to ask what that’s about, Iwaizumi propels himself back and coughs into his hand. Oikawa blinks up at him and decides that they will never speak of this again - if only so he doesn’t embarrass himself more than he already has.

“Sorry, I didn’t hurt you, right?” Iwaizumi asks, holding out his hand for Oikawa to grab hold of.

“Iwa-chan, you’ve given me nosebleeds before,” Oikawa deadpans, taking his hand and pulling himself up. “A few punches aren’t going to hurt me.”

“Yeah, but the ground is pretty hard,” Iwaizumi shrugs, taking his hand away quickly to rub at his neck. “And I don’t care if I’ve made you bleed, the goal is to teach you to fight, not bruise you into a coma.”

Oikawa snorts, shaking his head. “Oh please, I’m tough enough to handle a few scrapes. I’m not some delicate flower.”

Iwaizumi’s glow doesn’t seem to die down much, but his shoulders become less tense at his words. “Yeah, no… you’re not delicate at all.”

“So, is that it for today?” Oikawa asks, watching Iwaizumi scuff his foot a little. “Shouldn’t we… keep… going?”

It’s awkward, Oikawa can feel it, but he doesn’t want to give into that thought. He can’t let things get awkward just because he suddenly blirted out something flirtatious instead of - well, instead of something normal and platonic.

Iwaizumi clears his throat, nodding a bit. “Yeah, no, we’re done for now. You can… explore the Underground if you want.”

Oikawa’s jaw goes slack and he watches Iwaizumi shuffle slowly before he basically sprints away. The area around him goes dim, but the light doesn’t die out completely. His mouth goes dry and before he knows it, he’s fallen back onto his butt, staring dumbly at the tunnel Iwaizumi just ran down.

Does this mean he’s completely ruined things between them? Oikawa sure hopes not, seeing as Iwaizumi is the only person here he trusts. He pulls his knees to his chest, and Oikawa takes a few deep breaths to keep from succumbing to his embarrassment - or allowing himself to feel the rejection Iwaizumi blatantly just threw at him.

“A Syrd’s glow tells you their feelings, you know,” a little voice calls behind him and Oikawa jumps, turning around to see who it might be. The dim purple glow from a crack in the wall moves closer, and Oikawa blinks to try adjusting his eyes better to the little light.

He’s pretty sure that it’s Dee, hiding in a hidden crack. “Dee? Is that you?” He calls out, shifting to pull himself up.

“My brother was embarrassed by what you said,” Dee replies, and Oikawa can clearly see her now that she’s moved a little closer. “Not in a bad way though, he seemed… pleased?”

Oikawa scrunches his brows together, “wait, what do you mean?”

Dee rolls her eyes and Oikawa suddenly feels small next to the little girl. “Listen Hero-Man, I’m not going to repeat myself. Haezuubil likes you, I’m sure of it! His light is especially red when you’re around.”

He blinks, not sure of what that could mean. “Dee, how can I tell what the different lights mean?”

She shrugs, before arrogantly putting her hands on her hips, pouting up at him. Oikawa gulps, somehow feeling like he’s in the presence of a giant. “My brother is the only Syrd in the Underground who’s glow is healthy enough to display his emotions for him - I don’t know what you Humans do, but my mama told me Humans can usually tell emotions with just their faces.” Dee sighs, dropping her arms. “So, just read him like you used to - only, now you gotta add in what his glow is telling you.”

Oikawa gapes at her, his head bobbing before he can really process what she means. “O… okay…”

Dee nods once to him, as if her job is done, before she turns around and returns to her little hole. Oikawa doesn’t stop her, glancing up to look at the crystal roots above him.

They’re glowing slightly more than he remembered them doing, and he wonders if Iwaizumi’s intense glow - apparently a blush if he read it correctly - had given them energy.

———

Iwaizumi drags his feet as he walks into the makeshift house, trying to calm the heat coming off of him. Oikawa’s flushed face hasn’t left his inner eye’s sight and he groans to himself, smacking his forehead. The way he sounded also didn’t help matters, and he takes a deep breath before falling back into a chair.

“What has you so flustered, Haezuubil?” He jumps, twisting to find his father on the other side of the room.

“Uh…” He looks around for something to help him, but Iwaizumi comes up short. “It’s… it’s nothing.”

His father huffs a laugh before he stands, moving closer to him. “Now now, I was young once. That light of yours is too intense to just be nothing. Did one of the girls get too close to you?”

Iwaizumi gulps, avoiding his father’s eyes. “You could say that…”

He laughs fully now, and Iwaizumi’s intense red light recedes to its usual levels before falling flat. He’s embarrassed still, but the shame he feels from his father knowing something happened seems to be taking control of his light.

“Haezuubil,” he winces at the stern tone, “it was Tooru, wasn’t it?”

Iwaizumi gulps, knowing his light is giving him away. “I’m sorry.”

His father sighs, heavy with dread. “Son, you have a duty to these people - don’t ruin it by falling for an alien.”

“I don’t feel anything for Tooru but friendship, dad.” Iwaizumi’s proud his light doesn’t flicker on the lie - he’s practiced his lying since he was a child, after all.

“It must remain that way,” his father answers, and Iwaizumi avoids his eyes. “The Prince of Sakina should bind himself to a good woman, and give the Syrd plenty of heirs for the future.”

Iwaizumi holds back a shudder at the reminder. “I know, dad.”

“Tooru is the Hero and nothing more,” his father continues on, “don’t forget your place in this world. We’ll have our kingdom back soon, Haezuubil.”

He sighs, turning to meet his father’s face. The smile on his face feels forced, but his light shifts with him, returning to its default form. “Of course, your majesty.”


	7. Zorvak

It’s difficult to see much without Iwaizumi’s intense glow next to him, but Oikawa makes due. He squints in the dim lighting, watching his steps as he moves through the tunnel and comes out into another open cave of stone buildings he doesn’t recognise. Sighing, he looks around trying to figure out which way to go.

The Underground might as well be a maze seeing as Oikawa’s very lost now. Part of him is annoyed that Iwaizumi ran from him when he did, but on the other hand he’s happy for the time alone. Dee’s words are still bothering him, more in the way that it’s really getting his hopes up. Frowning, Oikawa moves forward in the better lit area, but he still watches where he steps with narrowed eyes. The Syrd here are ignoring him too, which both relaxes and frustrates him somehow. Surely one of them realizes he’s lost?

Oikawa huffs, stopping to glance around. Maybe he could just ask one of them to help him - or even give him answers he can’t ask for from Iwaizumi. He flushes, dropping his gaze before he can make eye contact with any of them. He’s not exactly sure what he would ask anyway (anatomy - bodily structure - _reproductive organs_ ) and shakes his head of any strange thoughts.

Okay, so Oikawa has many questions and no answers about how a relationship between him and Iwaizumi would work now - his fantasies and research satiated those desires when Iwaizumi was a Human, but _now_... not so much. His face is burning and he really hopes Syrd can’t read minds or something. 

He knows he has so much more to be worrying about right now - the prophecy being the biggest, glaring problem of his life at this moment - but Oikawa’s mind can only focus on the idea of being with Iwaizumi. Maybe it’s because he’s alone with his thoughts and he has nothing familiar to focus on right now so his mind has decided to zero in on his feelings for Iwaizumi - both the physical and emotional sides, but with heavy attention on the physical since it’s currently just a giant question mark of “can we even?”

At this point he’s considered asking so many times about how their bodies work but decided against it a thousand times over simply because he thinks they’ll treat him like some kind of… pervert, he supposes. Oikawa actually doesn’t know for sure that they would, but his own culture is telling him that’s not very civil or natural. Sighing, he looks around again before moving towards a building that looks too big to be a home.

Maybe he could just ask a Syrd that might be working or something for help getting back to Iwaizumi’s home - except he also has no idea how to pronounce their names.

Oikawa steps into the building and finds it much quieter than outside on the makeshift streets. The door closes behind him heavily and he gapes at the massive building’s contents. It’s like a library, but the shelves aren’t lined with books, they’re housing crystals.

“Can I help you?” A soft voice asks and Oikawa jumps, spinning around. He hadn’t even noticed he was walking as he surveyed the space, but he’d almost run into what might be a desk. A tiny Syrd woman sits on the other side, her soft glow a pale green like mints.

“Uh…” He starts so eloquently, “what is this place?”

She doesn’t seem annoyed and simply gestures to the shelves. “Underground Hall of Records - any information we of the Underground were able to gather before the official Hall of Records burned in the Overworld have been housed here.”

Oikawa’s eyes widen and they quickly scan the immediate area. “So… could I look at the information?”

“Probably not, Hero of Prophecy,” she replies and Oikawa winces at the title, “the crystals need a Syrd to activate them, and then the information is heard like a thought.”

His shoulders slump, “which means I have no chance in finding what I’m looking for…”

“I could help with that, Hero,” a voice from behind him says and Oikawa starts, turning to find another Syrd. His glow is a soft, greying pink - probably only grey due to his lack of energy - but his hair and clothes catch Oikawa off guard. There’s no movement to his hair unlike every Syrd he’s seen and his clothes look more like the armor Iwaizumi’s father wore. His short, straight hair and general features almost remind him of someone, but Oikawa can’t place who. “I’m Zorvak, a member of the royal guard.”

Oikawa’s mouth falls open a little and he gapes at the man. He gulps, unsure of how to introduce himself. “Hello… Zorvak?” He thinks he said it right, and Zorvak doesn’t cringe so he continues, “I’m Tooru, the Hero… I guess.”

Zorvak nods, “the king has told us about you, Hero.”

“You can help me?”

Zorvak smiles, and there’s something about it that makes Oikawa feel as though he’s seen it before. “What information are you looking for?”

Oikawa shifts his weight, looking away from the guard. “I… well, I’m very curious about something with the Syrd,” he sees Zorvak gesture for him to continue on, “but… you know what, it doesn’t matter, I just need to return to Hay… Hayzoobeel’s house?”

Zorvak laughs and Oikawa’s face burns, “Hayzoobeel, that’s funny. I guess it would be hard if it’s not your language - Haezuubil is how you say it.”

“Hai… zoo… beel?” Oikawa tries, frowning to himself before saying it again, “Haezuubil?”

“Yes, there you go,” Zorvak’s smiling a little more now. “But don’t feel ashamed - we must be interesting to you as a Human, so if there is anything I can help you understand, I’ll be glad to show you.”

Oikawa looks back at the little woman behind the desk and she looks bored out of her mind. He turns back to Zorvak and sighs, “I just… our species look really similar, right?”

“I like to think I’m pretty, thank you,” the woman mutters and Oikawa scowls.

“Well, I mean—”

“I know, you’re fine, Hero,” Zorvak raises a hand in a calming gesture, and he glares to the woman.

Oikawa takes a deep breath and tries again, “I guess I just want to know… _how_ similar we are under the skin?”

Zorvak considers his words and turns to the woman, “do we have records of Syrd anatomy?”

“Of course, it’s in the back next to the history of Sakina,” the woman waves her hand in the direction of a darkened area of the building, her face remaining bored.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Zorvak says kindly, and again his smile reminds Oikawa of something yet he can’t place what. “Come on, captain, I’ll show it to you.”

Oikawa perks up and follows after Zorvak, glad to have found a kind Syrd who doesn’t look at him in a nasty way.

His words register when they’ve made it beyond the desk however and Oikawa freezes. Zorvak had said it so… casually, with a hint of mockery and it sounded just like one of the two idiots he knows very well.

Oikawa narrows his eyes, hurrying to catch up with Zorvak. Maybe he’d imagined it, but something about this Syrd is far too familiar for Oikawa to relax now. If he does anything else like it, Oikawa will be ready.

They come to the back wall and Zorvak scans the crystals. Oikawa gawks at them, seeing that they’re all about the size of his head. He’s not sure if he’ll get his answer, but he hopes he does before Zorvak acts suspiciously again - at least that way Oikawa’s curiosity will subside.

“Ah, here it is,” Zorvak points to an orange crystal, the symbols under it complicated and confusing to Oikawa’s eyes. Zorvak picks up the crystal and focuses on it until it glow, “here, it should be able to transfer the information to you. If it doesn’t, I can just tell you what I see and you ask for exactly what you want.”

Oikawa feels his face grow warm again, hoping he won’t have to ask. He places his hand on the crystal and waits for the warmth to take over his hand. When nothing happens a second later, he frowns and prepares to tell Zorvak it didn’t work, only to feel energy shoot through his arm up to his head.

He feels dizzy, but suddenly Oikawa sees something when he blinks. Closing his eyes, he concentrates until the image returns. Oikawa gasps, the information a jumbled mess in front of him.

“Focus on what you’re looking for,” a distant voice says and Oikawa barely recognises Zorvak’s voice behind the whispers coming from the jumbled mess.

Oikawa thinks about what he wants to know, furrowing his brow when it doesn’t come right away. Once it does, he relaxes again and looks at the image before him, feeling another blush intensify on his cheeks at the sight of a naked Syrd man.

It’s at least not entirely realistic, and half of him is cut away to show his internal organs. But the words still don’t make sense to Oikawa and he tries to pull it closer to determine if Humans and Syrd are compatible. He considers pulling up a female Syrd to double check there, but as soon as he does the whispers becomes clear.

“ _The anatomy of a male Syrd_...” Oikawa listens intently, trying to focus on the areas that light up as the voice talks. He mostly ignores the upper internal organs, finding some similarities and few differences to what he knows of Human anatomy. Once it reaches the information of the reproductive organs, Oikawa stands a little taller and listens to the information.

“ _The male reproductive organs include a sack that contains the cell of half of the DNA for a future Syrd child, which…_ ” Oikawa gapes at the image, knowing full well that it’s basically the same diagram of a Human male’s genitalia. He drops his hands and pulls away, the sensation slipping through him and coming away as if a sleeve was ripped from his arm.

Oikawa opens his eyes and looks up at Zorvak. “Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for.”

“Which was…?” Zorvak raises a brow, “what, are you trying to figure out if you can mate a female here?”

Oikawa’s face burns - something like that… “Well, not really…”

Zorvak chuckles, his grin twisting into something far too familiar, “ah, so what they Syrd are saying is true about you and Iwaizumi, huh Oikawa?”

Oikawa becomes rigid at that, and immediately he knocks the crystal from Zorvak’s hands before shoving his back into the shelf, other crystals shaking and a few falling forward to the ground. He doesn’t hear them shatter, but he does catch a smaller one with an intense point at it’s tip, using it as a weapon at Zorvak’s throat.

Zorvak’s eyes are wide and he’s staring at Oikawa with worry. “W-what?”

“Who are you?” Oikawa snaps, “I didn’t tell you that name and last I checked you Syrd _don’t_ use Iwa-chan’s Human name.”

Zorvak’s face relaxes and he raises his hands in a form of surrender, “calm down captain, it’s not like I’m threatening you.”

“Why are you talking like him?” Oikawa growls, pushing harder against the chestplate. “I only know of two idiots in the known universe who call me ‘captain’, and they’re both…” He hesitates, feeling his mouth shake as it tries to finish forming his sentence.

“Both what?” Zorvak asks with a deadpan face, “both… Human?”

Oikawa’s trying to keep from shaking and he’s glad the hand that holds the pointed crystal isn’t shaking too badly. “... you can’t be…”

“I think you know exactly who I am, Oikawa,” Zorvak whispers and Oikawa’s legs begin to shake.

“... Makki?”

Hanamaki’s face - and it’s clearly him, his skin is just slightly darker and his eyes are more magenta than brown - twists into a grin, but it’s usual mocking look isn’t there. Oikawa looks around his features, shocked he couldn’t tell before. It really is Hanamaki, somehow, in the form of a Syrd.

“In the flesh,” Hanamaki says, and Oikawa’s grip loosens until he lets Hanamaki go. “Well, in the flesh for the first time - it’s good to see you for real, Oikawa.”

Oikawa gapes at him, feeling at a loss for what exactly was happening. “But… what? How are you - when did you…?”

Hanamaki shrugs, prompting Oikawa to hit him in the shoulder. “ _Ouch_ , okay okay, I’ll explain!”

“You better…”

Sighing, Hanamaki glances away to contemplate where he should begin. “Alright, so I’m a soldier under the rightful king of Sakina, and my training started early because most Syrd have been dying young being in the Underground.”

Oikawa frowns, “that’s terrible… how young were you?”

“Pretty young,” Hanamaki answers, and Oikawa gets the feeling he doesn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway, my first assignment upon being officially recognised as a soldier was to project myself onto Earth and ensure the prince followed through with his mission.”

“You were sent to watch over the prince?” Oikawa asks, narrowing his eyes, “what prince?”

Hanamaki raises a brow, “what do you mean ‘what prince?’ Iwaizumi didn’t tell you his lineage?”

Oikawa gapes at him, “wait… Iwa-chan is a prince?”

Hanamaki actually looks surprised, “oh wow, he really didn’t tell you…”

Oikawa’s mouth falls open further, and he knows he probably looks silly but this information is too much. “He… he’s a prince? Of an alien planet?”

“Are you going to be okay…?”

“Iwa-chan - brutish, loud, angry Iwa-chan - is a _prince_?” Oikawa stares at the ground, the glinting crystals at their feet seemingly mocking his shock. Iwaizumi is none of those things, but Oikawa can’t help but spew the lies out in hopes of drowning out his fears from the information.

“For the record, only you call him those things and we all know you don’t think of him that way.”

He doesn’t respond to Hanamaki’s monotone statement, choosing to ignore it. “How is he a prince?! He can’t even eat without getting rice all over his cheeks?!” Oikawa’s hands dig into his hair and he looks to the ceiling full of crystal tree roots shining softly. “Iwa-chan can’t be a prince!” If he’s a prince, then that means he has expectations that Oikawa can’t fill.

“This is ridiculous…”

Oikawa shakes his head and glares at Hanamaki, who looks to have gotten bored with Oikawa’s rambling. “Makki, this is serious! Iwa-chan - our darling little Iwa-chan who suits the role of a _knight_ more than a _prince_ \- is… is… _royalty_?”

Hanamaki blinks at his outburst with the most deadpan expression Oikawa’s ever seen from him. “Yeah, but be honest Oikawa; you’re not actually shocked here, are you?”

Oikawa feels his face heat, “I…”

“You can definitely see him as a prince because you know he’s not as bad as you like to tease.”

Oikawa avoids Hanamaki’s piercing gaze. “Fine,” he grumbles, “I shouldn’t be shocked because Iwa-chan is the most handsome prince I’ve ever seen.”

Hanamaki laughs and Oikawa’s bottom lip juts out further as he crosses his arms. “I knew it, you do like him. Matsukawa will be bummed out - he owes me money now.”

“Wait,” Oikawa snaps his attention back to Hanamaki, “is Mattsun a Syrd too?”

“What, no,” Hanamaki shakes his head, his expression shifting to one of amusement, “Matsukawa is a Human and he has no idea about any of this.”

“Does… Iwa-chan know?” Oikawa sends Hanamaki a look when he doesn’t answer right away. “I mean, I never could tell you weren’t Human, but did Iwa-chan?”

“No,” Hanamaki murmurs, turning his eyes to the floor. “I… I never told him. His father told me to tell him myself and to convince him to bring you home to Sakina, but… I couldn’t do it.”

Oikawa’s head tilts to the side and he tries to get a better look at Hanamaki’s face. “Why not…?”

“Because I got to know him,” Hanamaki says, finally looking back to Oikawa, “and then I got to know you and Matsukawa as well…” He sighs, his gaze appearing distant. “The amount of times I forgot I wasn’t actually Human is insane, and the need I had to find my way to Earth for real,” he shakes his head, “I can’t even begin to describe how badly I wanted to join you three. I didn’t blame the prince if he didn’t want to return, because there were days where I stayed in the projected state even when I didn’t have to.”

“Why would you want to be Human?” Oikawa questions, voice soft. He’s not sure what could be appealing about becoming Human, but Hanamaki’s words feel far too sincere to be anything but the truth.

“The Syrd are dying,” Hanamaki whispers back, and his face seems to grow pale as his glow shifts to a whiter color. Oikawa’s eyes widen at the sight, wonders if all the Syrd with as little glow as Hanamaki can still show their emotions in their light. “Sakina itself is dying, and it’s all because of the Queen of the Overworld.”

Oikawa shifts on his feet, trying to think of something to say. “Well… I’m here now.”

“But it took so long, how do we know you’ll succeed?” Hanamaki asks and Oikawa flinches at the question. “Hell, on Earth the reports of Iwaizumi’s home blowing up were all over the news, and then no one knew where you two were and Matsukawa had jokingly bet me you two went off to elope and didn’t know about his parents,” Hanamaki chuckles, but there’s no humor in his voice, “except surprise! His parents aren’t dead like they presumed because they’ve never actually been on Earth!”

Oikawa bites his lip, “well, it’s only been a day…” He pauses in confusion when Hanamaki stares at him incredulously. “What? Does… does time move differently here than Earth? I mean, I’m sure it does but—”

“Oikawa,” Hanamaki cuts him off, his face shifting to pity, “it’s been two months…”

His heart speeds and Oikawa shakes his head slowly. “What…? But the wormhole…”

“It takes one month from your life to jump through a wormhole,” Hanamaki says, “meaning that it feels like a second has passed but it’s actually a whole month.”

Oikawa gapes at him, feeling his legs begin to shake. There’s no way… if it’s been two months, then…

“I thought for sure you’d only take a month when I first heard you both disappeared and Iwaizumi’s house was destroyed,” Hanamaki continues on, “and I thought I could call it a mission completed and continued projecting myself to Earth for Matsukawa’s sake, but then… you just didn’t show up here after the first month.”

Oikawa isn’t really registering what Hanamaki’s saying. It was May 19th yesterday, wasn’t it?

“And because you didn’t, everyone here started to lose hope - they thought their prince had abandoned the mission and ran away with the Hero. I was even looking for ways to really get to Earth so at least one of us didn’t abandon Matsukawa.”

If two months have passed, then that means that today isn’t May 20th, but instead…

“Makki,” Oikawa cuts him off before he continue on and Hanamaki jumps a little, blinking to refocus on Oikawa, “what day is it on Earth…?”

Hanamaki frowns, and his face crumbles a little. “It’s… it’s July 20th, Oikawa… Happy birthday.”

Oikawa’s lip trembles at that and he can no longer stand, falling to the floor beside the crystals there. “My… my birthday…?” He shakes his head, “my family… everyone back on Earth… they’re…” Oikawa takes a deep breath, trying to remain calm, “they’re all probably wondering where I am and how I could possibly leave them without a notice and I - I can’t…”

“Oikawa!” A voice echos to them and Hanamaki kneels down next to him. Oikawa takes in a shaking breath, trying to focus his eyes on Hanamaki. “Oikawa, are you still here?!”

He knows that’s Iwaizumi’s voice, but he doesn’t know if he can respond. Hanamaki nods his head in the direction of Iwaizumi’s voice, quietly asking if Oikawa wants him to call him over. Oikawa, not knowing what else to say or do, bobs his head quickly, turning to pull his legs to his chest.

“He’s over here, your majesty!” Hanamaki calls, standing up, “he’s asking for you to hurry!”

Oikawa registers the sounds of Iwaizumi’s feet running over, and he takes a few deep breaths as he waits. When the light of Iwaizumi’s glow begins to illuminate the aisle they’re in, Oikawa feels the warmth and almost feels himself begin to relax.

“Oikawa…!” Iwaizumi hurries over, kneeling at his side. “Soldier, what happened?!”

“Chill, Iwaizumi,” Hanamaki mutters, squatting down next to him, “he’s just in shock that today is his birthday - didn’t even know going through a wormhole makes a month go by in a second.”

Oikawa keeps his gaze on the blue crystal by his foot, taking slow, deep breaths, but he listens as Iwaizumi turns to look up at Hanamaki. “... Hanamaki…?”

“Sorry for lying to you, your majesty,” Hanamaki answers and Oikawa closes his eyes for one last deep breath.

“Wait, how long,” Iwaizumi stops, sighing, “it doesn’t matter - what were you saying? A month?” Iwaizumi twists back to Oikawa and he opens his eyes, finally meeting Iwaizumi’s worried stare. “It’s… it’s your birthday?”

Oikawa smiles and it’s feels like the most pitiful thing he’s ever pulled. “Apparently so…!”

Iwaizumi’s brow furrows and he looks devastated. “I’m so sorry, Oikawa… I didn’t know wormholes did that…”

“It’s okay,” Oikawa mumbles, “we had to come - your people are dying, and what kind of prince would you be if you didn’t help them?”

Iwaizumi’s face shifts and it’s by far the blankest expression he’s ever seen from him. The light around him also shifts, from a light red teetering on pink into a stark white with the barest hint of red shining through. “Right, my… people are dying. And you want to save them.”

Oikawa’s smile pushes at his cheeks and it’s almost painful how much he’s trying - he knows it’s not convincing Iwaizumi - but it could make him feel better if he keeps trying. “Just like it’s always been! So, Prince Haezuubil, are we going to continue my training for Bukuret?”

The red in Iwaizumi’s light sparks, almost threateningly, and it nearly makes Oikawa jump in surprise. “Yes… I guess we probably should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently my life is going to get very hectic, so updates will be pretty few and far between for a while! I'll still try to shoot for Fridays, but if it doesn't happen then it doesn't happen :( Sorry everyone! Also sorry that this chapter is a little short, some of my plans ended up changing :P


	8. Quietest Birthday

Hanamaki follows them back to the cave Iwaizumi had decided to train Oikawa in and Oikawa focuses his attention on the ground they walk on.

Two whole months have passed and he didn’t even get to experience it. How was Matsukawa handling being the only one left of the regular third years? Hanamaki said he would go back to check on him from time to time, but it sounded like Matsukawa had been… well, abandoned. As for the rest of the team, have they figured out how to work around the absence of their captain and ace? Is Yahaba doing alright as the starting setter or has he cracked under pressure? Is Watari okay? Did Kyoutani ever come back? What about Kindaichi and Kunimi - they hadn’t had much of a chance to even really play a game with him, but Oikawa knew how best to use them and never got the chance to tell anyone.

He doesn’t even want to begin to think about his family - his mother has probably worried herself sick and his father has probably called everyone he can possibly think of. His siblings have either tried not to think about it or are so laden with concern for him they don’t know what to think. Briefly, Oikawa wonders what his brother told Takeru about him and whether his nephew had figured out yet that his uncle is missing.

Shaking his head, Oikawa tries to force himself not to think about it. Not to think about his family, who are undoubtedly worried, or about the team, who probably didn’t do well in the tournament. Or maybe they did great - maybe without Oikawa they did so well they never needed him. Maybe his family was actually glad he was gone.

Oikawa bites his lip, focusing on Iwaizumi’s back as he follows him through the dark tunnel, the red glow coming from his best friend helping him find his footing over the uneven ground. He knows not to think like that - the team does need him, and his family doesn’t hate him. He feels more homesick than he’s ever felt, and it’s made worse knowing that everyone he left might be feeling something similar because they’d spent a longer time without him than he has without them.

They make their way into the cave and Oikawa tries to shake away the thoughts before Iwaizumi can attack him. He knows he will, and now he has to worry about Hanamaki as well. Oikawa doesn’t get the chance to think about other things, he has to focus if he doesn’t want to be attacked and brought down mercilessly by two of the strongest wing spikers on his team.

Throwing his jacket to the side, he keeps his gaze on Iwaizumi, moving so he can see Hanamaki from his peripherals as well. Iwaizumi has done the same, and Hanamaki seems to be removing one of the bulkier pieces of his armor. The two are watching him as well, quietly waiting for the right moment to strike. Oikawa stops in the center, taking a firm stance and looking between them.

Oikawa tries to breath evenly, waiting for something to happen, but the anticipation seems to accelerate his heart rate and he gulps, uncertain who will attack first. He knows he can’t ask, and he definitely won’t receive a warning. If Iwaizumi was taught to fight through action, then Hanamaki was too.

Blinking once to take the sting from his eyes, Oikawa immediately shifts, seeing Iwaizumi suddenly come closer and he blocks the punch thrown his way, holding his fist. With a quick glance, he sees Hanamaki close in on him as well and drops down, pulling Iwaizumi in the direction of Hanamaki’s own fist and he hears them collide as he tucks and rolls out from under them.

Iwaizumi stumbles back, glaring at Hanamaki who’s got a cheesy grin on his face. “My bad, your majesty.”

“Fuck off,” Iwaizumi grunts before turning to Oikawa, “not bad, but you can’t just keep dodging.”

Oikawa grits his teeth before kicking himself forward, tackling Iwaizumi as he moves to kick out Hanamaki’s legs. Iwaizumi grabs his shoulders however, pushing down to get Oikawa away but luckily the kick didn’t seem to register in time for Hanamaki, who collapses to the ground. With Hanamaki down, Oikawa spins out of Iwaizumi’s grip to try a different approach.

He tries to keep Hanamaki in sight as he punches at Iwaizumi, but his wrist is caught and Oikawa struggles to pull away from him. Iwaizumi’s holding his gaze and Oikawa’s grunting as he tries pulling his arm when he’s suddenly being grabbed into a hold from behind. Oikawa’s body goes with the motion of being lifted up and he kicks his feet out, nailing Iwaizumi in the head and kicking at Hanamaki from behind.

Unfortunately, the kicks he lands on Hanamaki don’t seem to bother him and Oikawa tries his best to break from the hold before he’s crashing into the ground. He only manages to free his arms as he falls, allowing him to catch himself before he can receive serious damage from the the rock surface.

“Careful Hanamaki, he’s still human,” he hears Iwaizumi groan, and Oikawa scowls. He pushes himself up as quickly as he can, and just as he’s back on his feet he can feel Hanamaki’s light on his skin - it’s not as intense as Iwaizumi’s, but it’s warmer than the air of the damp cave.

Oikawa doesn’t hesitate for a second, bringing his elbow back into Hanamaki’s gut and making the other double over with a hefty grunt. Spinning around, Oikawa brings his knee up, knocking into Hanamaki’s jaw and sending him to the ground.

He smirks to himself, but he can’t spend time patting himself on the back when he sees Iwaizumi leap over Hanamaki to kick at Oikawa. As quickly as he can, Oikawa steps back and reaches up, intending to block Iwaizumi’s kicks with his arms and hopeful that he can catch his ankle and force Iwaizumi to the ground. He seems to anticipate this though when Iwaizumi shifts mid air, spinning his legs around to kick around Oikawa’s block.

It sends Oikawa jerking off balance and his head spins from the kick. He’s play fought with Iwaizumi before, but never to the extent of becoming so rattled. Catching himself before he can fall to the ground, Oikawa clutches his head and focuses on Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi lands just inches from Hanamaki’s form, who has yet to move again. Iwaizumi turns and leans forward, spreading his stance to prepare himself for another attack. Oikawa spits, thinking his tooth might have cut his inner cheek or something from the slight coppery taste he has in his mouth. He shifts as well, uncertain of whether Iwaizumi would attack him head on again.

Instead, his feet seem to come up from under him and he can’t quite figure out what happened, trying to catch himself before he slams into the ground. Hanamaki suddenly comes into his vision, slamming his elbow into Oikawa’s chest to force him down faster.

Oikawa grunts as he’s taken to the ground once more, and he coughs from the pain. Hanamaki stands over him, a smirk on his face. “And I thought you were stronger than this, captain.”

He glares up at his friend, smacking the offered hand away. “Well I wasn’t trained to be a warrior or whatever the hell it is you are.”

Hanamaki laughs, but he stops when Iwaizumi comes closer. “Oikawa, you need to be able to protect yourself,” Iwaizumi says, “Hanamaki and I are going easy on you, but the Creath won’t on Bukuret.”

“Bukuret?” Hanamaki asks, sending a questioning look to Iwaizumi. Oikawa looks between them, pulling himself back up to his feet. “Why would you want to go to that wasteland?”

Iwaizumi gestures to Oikawa, “the newest part of the prophecy said he’d find what he needs in the stomach of something with skin impossible to cut or whatever, so I thought of Beherees.”

Scoffing, Hanamaki shakes his head. “You were on Earth too long - Beherees aren’t real.”

“You don’t actually know that,” Iwaizumi points at him, sounding ready for an argument. “Just because no one has ever confirmed it doesn’t mean Beherees are just some crazy myth.”

“So what, you think they are real and that Creath are there trying to collect on the lost treasures that Beherees supposedly eat?” Hanamaki rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. “And even if they are, how do you plan on getting the thing out of the Beheree?”

Iwaizumi opens his mouth, but he hesitates and Oikawa sees his face shift to a familiar expression of thoughtfulness. Oikawa waits before glancing back to Hanamaki, who’s watching Iwaizumi with an amused expression.

“I take your silence to mean you didn’t think about that…”

Iwaizumi narrows his eyes, “shut up.”

Oikawa shifts his attention between the two, waiting for their staring match to end. Growing impatient, he feels his shoulders slump and he turns to grab his jacket before moving to the only exit of the cave they were in. He felt sore and his body felt exhausted, but Oikawa wasn’t ready to fall asleep just yet.

As he moves back to the tunnel, his thoughts catch back up with him and he’s reminded of what Hanamaki told him between the shelves of Syrd records.

His own birthday, and he didn’t even know it. Just yesterday it was May. Just yesterday he was on Earth and had the biggest crush on his best friend who, until yesterday, was as Human as he is. Now he’s standing in the underground cave networks of an alien planet he only ever thought was fictional and it’s apparently July. Oikawa’s head hurts from thinking about it, and if today really is his birthday, he’d rather not spend it trying to fight off two guys who regularly arm wrestle to assert dominance.

“Oikawa, where are you going?” Hanamaki calls to him, and he stops before the tunnel begins to turn.

“To wallow in self pity over my shitty birthday!” Oikawa yells back, spinning on his heels to glare through the dark tunnel at them. They’re walking towards him, and it’s clear by their faces they’re worried. “Apparently, I’m officially eighteen and I’m not going to celebrate by getting knocked on my ass all day!”

Hanamaki frowns and Iwaizumi sends him a look of pity. “Oikawa… I’m sorry, we should have done something for your birthday.”

Oikawa huffs, crossing his arms, “well, to me it feels like my birthday isn’t for another two months, but those two months were taken from me!” Iwaizumi flinches, stopping in front of him and his warm light sends a warmth over Oikawa’s cold skin. “I just… I’m tired, and my back hurts, and my head is pounding… I wanna go to sleep…”

“Okay,” Iwaizumi says, his brows furrowed upwards in concern. “I… I’m sorry for taking you away from Earth, and for losing two months of your life, and—”

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa punches his shoulder, stopping Iwaizumi from continuing. “It’s fine, I just… I’m done for right now. I need to sleep…”

Iwaizumi nods, glancing to Hanamaki before reaching towards Oikawa, putting a hand to his shoulder. “Let’s get back to my parents’ house.”

Hanamaki steps forward, “if you don’t mind, I’ll come with - we can convince Iwaizumi’s mom to make something for your birthday maybe.”

Oikawa frowns, shaking his head. “I don’t know - I don’t think I want to celebrate my birthday.”

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi starts, frowning sadly, “he’s right; after everything, you deserve something simple and nice.”

He feels too exhausted to fight back, so he nods and turns to continue out the tunnel. Iwaizumi directs him to where they need to go in order to return to his parents’ home, and Hanamaki helps when Iwaizumi seems lost as well.

In all of his years of living, Oikawa’s never had a simple or nice birthday. Even before he can remember - the photos of his baby book are more than enough to show him - his family had always done something spectacular for his birthday. A huge party with all of his friends, or a trip to Tokyo for a week once classes ended for summer break. Hell, his family even took him on a cruise once and Iwaizumi was his only guest outside of family.

The Oikawa family doesn’t do simple and nice, not for birthdays. Oikawa frowns, watching his feet move under him but feeling nothing. Despite being used to huge, amazing parties or crazy trips to interesting or exciting places, Oikawa can’t bring himself to feel out of place with the idea of something simple.

He doesn’t want to celebrate his birthday, but if it means getting to relax and maybe go lie down early, then he’ll take it. Oikawa’s back is sore from hitting the ground after Hanamaki shoved him down, and he’s afraid Iwaizumi’s kick might have done more damage than he meant to his brain.

Oikawa rubs his temple, glancing to Iwaizumi as they move through another tunnel, Hanamaki telling them it should lead back to the king’s home. He’d almost forgotten Iwaizumi is meant to be a prince, but even with the subtle reminders, he still can’t quite see it.

Iwaizumi is handsome - obviously he already knew that - but that doesn’t automatically make him the prince-type. He is however very gentlemanly, and Oikawa’s not sure about the culture of Sakina, but he can easily say that puts points down as being princely. Still, Iwaizumi is also pretty brash, not quite to the point of being rude, but he can get pretty rough around the edges when you push the right buttons or get him fired up about whatever sport you throw at him.

In some ways, he can see why Iwaizumi could be considered a prince - though sometimes that might just be his rose colored glasses messing with his perception. Oikawa’s watched a few romance movies before (mostly because his sister steals the remote and he’s too lazy to get up from the couch) and, in the ones about royalty, the prince of the main couple in those movies almost always made Oikawa think of Iwaizumi. But he could never exactly put himself in the role of the maiden who the prince is in love with. Because Oikawa wasn’t some fair maiden who needed to be whisked away by a handsome prince.

He’s an average teenager with above average looks (he knows he has to be good looking with all those admirers he’s accumulated) and a far too masculine frame to be wearing the cute dresses or be swept up into Iwaizumi’s arms. Sure, Iwaizumi probably could pick him up, but Oikawa’s certain that being held like that wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them considering he’s taller and almost as broad shouldered as Iwaizumi.

So when Oikawa sees Iwaizumi in the role of a prince, he will never be able to place himself as the romantic interest - as the maiden who captures the prince’s heart. Instead, he winds up seeing himself as the prince’s best friend, or his sidekick, or even the rival for the maiden’s heart.

Sometimes he’s the prince instead, but again Iwaizumi doesn’t fit the role of a maiden. Either way, Oikawa doesn’t like those movies and usually ends up falling asleep, unable to see himself being with Iwaizumi if either of them were to ever be a prince.

Now that Iwaizumi’s heritage has been revealed, Oikawa still can’t bring himself to accept it so easily. Iwaizumi being a prince simply means he needs to marry a woman - or… become bound to them? He’s pretty sure that’s what Iwaizumi said before. Oikawa’s not a woman, not a maiden to swept up into the arms of the handsome prince.

No, this time Oikawa’s role is to be the Hero who will save Iwaizumi’s people and once they return to Sakina’s Overworld and Iwaizumi’s father regains his proper title, Iwaizumi will never be his. Oikawa will have to return to Earth, and Iwaizumi will remain on Sakina, living his true life as a prince and waiting for the right female Syrd to bind himself to.

This entire trip to the amazing planet he used to only dream about has become an all around disaster, and Oikawa can feel his heart ache to return to Earth. He wishes he could wake up and all of this just be a dream where he never left his family or friends, that Iwaizumi wasn’t an alien prince of another planet and that his hopes of ever finding his feelings reciprocated didn’t feel as hopeless as they do now.

The home they were staying in comes into view and Iwaizumi leads the way in, Hanamaki gesturing for Oikawa to follow after. Oikawa doesn’t meet his eyes and walks through the stone doorway with his head hung low.

“Oh good, you’re back!” Iwaizumi’s mother says, voice cheerful. They all move towards the kitchen, a sweet smell filling the air. “I was hoping you’d be back soon, I’ve made you something for your birthday, Tooru!”

Oikawa stares at her, surprised she already knew. On what he supposes is the counter is a platter filled with something that reminds him of pastries.

She gestures to the platter, “it’s not exactly cake like on Earth, but we don’t have ingredients like that here.”

Hanamaki bumps him, and Oikawa looks to him now. “They’re ummeataya; they’re kind of like cream puffs I think.”

“Yeah, only less sweet and maybe less… soft?” Iwaizumi hums in thought and Oikawa turns to him now. “Help yourself, Oikawa.”

Oikawa moves further into the kitchen, reaching for one of the pastries. It’s not as squishy as he’d been expecting, but he bites into it anyway. Iwaizumi is right, they’re not sugary sweet like cream puffs, but they have a similar flavor. They’re not exactly bitter or sour, but Oikawa can definitely feel the desire for something more sweet as he eats the little pastry.

“Happy birthday, Tooru,” Iwaizumi’s mother says, her smile sad. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be with your family for this - I understand that eighteen is a special year for Humans in most countries.”

He nods, reaching for another pastry to avoid having to speak. Dee comes into the room, and they all turn to look at the younger girl. She makes eye contact with Oikawa, nodding once as she glances to her brother before turning to run from the room. Oikawa pauses in his chewing, blinking once in the direction she ran off to. Iwaizumi’s mother laughs, murmuring something about silly children.

Iwaizumi comes to stand by him, grabbing one of the not-sweets as well to eat. Hanamaki appears on his other side, patting his back before taking two and stuffing them into his mouth. Oikawa wonders if Hanamaki’s Human projection is able to allow him to taste things, and if so, whether the cream puffs he enjoys back on Earth remind him of these… ummeataya.

“Oh, Zorvak! I didn’t see you there,” Iwaizumi’s mother says, nodding politely to Hanamaki. “Mazgadon said he had sent you on an important mission.”

Hanamaki nods, swallowing down the food he’d stuffed into his mouth with little struggle. “Yes my lady, it was to ensure Haezuubil returned to Sakina.”

She looks puzzled, “but you were sent on the mission four years ago.”

“It took some time to find him,” Hanamaki says, shrugging, “and even then, his majesty had requested I only push Haezuubil into returning once I’d become sure your son was ready to return with the Hero.”

Iwaizumi’s mother nods, glancing to Oikawa and her son. “I see… so you’ve been on Earth?”

Hanamaki shakes his head, reaching for another pastry. “Only as a projection, my lady - the king didn’t have another ship.”

Iwaizumi frowns, leaning forward on the counter to look around Oikawa at Hanamaki. “So wait, you were sent to watch over me? I can protect myself, I don’t need—”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Hanamaki defends, pointing the pastry in his hand at Iwaizumi. Oikawa goes cross eyed looking at the pastry in front of his face before turning back to Hanamaki. “I wasn’t sent to protect you or the Hero, just… watch over you, and stop you if you suddenly decided to abandon your mission.”

“So why not tell me?” Iwaizumi asks, brow furrowing. Hanamaki shrugs, popping the little pastry into his mouth. Oikawa turns his attention to the platter, grabbing another pastry and turning it in his hands. “Why couldn’t I know another Syrd was among us and - and checking on me to make sure I brought Oikawa back?”

Hanamaki grunts, swallowing the pastry. “I have no idea, your father asked me not to say anything.”

Iwaizumi narrows his eyes, focusing on the countertop now. “But why…?”

His mother reaches over, patting his shoulder, “all that matters now is that you’re here and Tooru will be able to save us. Right?” She smiles at Oikawa now, who shoves the pastry in his mouth in order to avoid talking. He nods, humming his agreement and her smile grows just a little bit.

Oikawa looks to Iwaizumi and sees the way he frowns at Oikawa’s answer. Iwaizumi had made him promise to never do anything that could hurt himself, to do what he can without falling into danger. Dee’s words of Iwaizumi liking him comes back soon after, and he watches Iwaizumi closely.

If she were right, and Iwaizumi’s concern was out of some kind of romantic interest, then maybe Oikawa does have a chance. Sure, Iwaizumi is a prince, but it sounds as though the Syrd almost believe that Iwaizumi will abandon them for something. He couldn’t quite place what it is, but now he’s beginning to believe Iwaizumi is willing to abandon his people for Oikawa.

It feels wrong to hope for that - Oikawa doesn’t want to separate Iwaizumi from his family or his true home, but Iwaizumi had basically told him he doesn’t feel at home here. Iwaizumi has said that the Syrd aren’t his people, and from the sounds of things he really did almost abandon Sakina in order to save Oikawa from the prophecy. While Oikawa wants to save Sakina and he’s here now, he’s gaining a small hope that once the Syrd are returned to the Overworld that Iwaizumi will run away with him. Maybe they can take their ship back to Earth with Hanamaki in tow and they will never have to worry about Iwaizumi binding himself to a woman - Oikawa could be with him instead.

Frowning, Oikawa returns his gaze to the platter. Even if he has hope for this potential future, Oikawa knows it will simply remain a small hope and never become real unless he does something. Taking a deep breath, he reaches for another pastry and sighs before popping it into his mouth.

If Iwaizumi has any feelings for him, Oikawa needs to get his answer tonight. If they have any hope of being together, Oikawa wants to start planning for their exit for when the planet is saved - or an escape if he fails to save the people of Sakina. Oikawa’s not going to let his best friend go, not now when they could become more. He just needs an answer.

He peeks over through his lashes to Iwaizumi, who’s grinding his teeth in frustration at the information Hanamaki gave him. Oikawa will get his answer tonight when everyone has gone to bed, and he won’t give Iwaizumi a chance to sidestep the question.


End file.
